Emily A. Sprague drops Cyano, an ambient album built from modular synths

Emily A. Sprague released Cyano on October 2, a concept album about an imagined planet, also called Cyano, that she describes as elemental and long uninhabited by humans. The record is built from modular synthesizers and hazy electronics. She says it was written entirely with electronics, and no acoustic instruments were used to record it.

Sprague is best known for her folk project Florist, and this is a sharp turn from that. She told Caroline Nieto in an interview published September 30 that 'empathy is a key word for the project,' and that she 'really wanted the sounds to feel intentionally lo-fi,' less bedroom-beat than 'a really weathered and kind of digital sci-fi kind of thing.' The album began with her interest in cyanotypes and how light changes chemical form. A physical modeling synth shaped much of the sound design. She is based in New York's Catskill Mountains.

The planet at the center of the record was, in her framing, destroyed by misunderstanding. It is out on Bandcamp and Spotify.