RUTH LYON RETURNS WITH HAUNTING NEW SINGLE ‘WICKERMAN’

2 days ago

Newcastle’s Ruth Lyon makes a striking return with ‘Wickerman’, a hypnotic new single produced by John Parish.

Coming as her first release since her 2022 Direct Debit To Vogue, this new release sets the stage for an upcoming project later this year.

Blending poetic lyricism with raw vulnerability, ‘Wickerman’ explores themes of isolation, resilience, and transformation. Lyon’s signature folk-infused sound takes on a dreamlike quality, with clarinet and melancholic strings floating over an understated groove, while shimmering drums and guitar cut through like distant echoes.

Alongside the release, Lyon has announced a UK headline tour, including stops in Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, York, Newcastle, and London. These shows follow festival performances at SXSW, The Great Escape, Latitude, and Secret Garden Party.

Lyon describes ‘Wickerman’ as living “in the borders between lucid dreaming and painful reality,” a reflection on life’s upheavals and the slow process of healing. The title references the burning wickerman as a symbol of seasonal transition, letting go of the past and stepping into something new.

The accompanying video, directed by Sel MacLean, brings this vision to life through unsettling yet mesmerising imagery. Featuring a priest, a groom, and a bride locked in an uneasy marriage of self, the visuals explore time’s relentless movement and the inescapable cycles of healing.

Ruth Lyon’s songwriting draws comparisons to Fiona Apple and Regina Spektor, but her music exists in its own space, rooted in folk but unafraid to experiment. She moves between the abstract and the deeply personal, leaving meaning just beneath the surface for the listener to uncover.

‘Wickerman’ is just the first taste of what’s to come, and with a UK tour ahead, Lyon is proving once again why she’s one of the most compelling voices in alternative folk today.

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