Tokyo 'hazy blackgaze core' trio Cissné announce debut EP with lead single "water lily"

Structured as a single, continuous piece that moves through elements of screamo, post-black metal, ambient, and shoegaze, the EP is teased by new track "water lily", which depicts a lone protagonist living on Mercury encountering another lifeform, a scenario the band says is purposefully suspended "between hope and isolation." The decision to present the EP as a singular arc aims at a listening experience geared towards continuity rather than isolated songs.

Arising from Tokyo's diverse heavy music scene and signed to punk, emo, and experimental label Lauren Records, Cissné's members include vocalist hikage (swancry), composer and guitarist hiiro (sunsetinfall, to overflow evidence) and bassist Ai.

The trio's collective influences include post-black metal, skramz, ambient, and post-classical music, aiming for a sound that contrasts fragile melody with heavier tones. A central tenet of the band’s approach is an emphasis on silence, space, and what they call "emotional restraint", a methodology intended to blur conventional genre boundaries, creating material that feels both personally intimate and structurally expansive.

Awake Children Under the Moon tracklist

"home"
"straysheep"
"water lily"
"will"
"doors"