Details

Danny L Harletoday announces details of his highly-anticipated new albumCerulean, which will be released on 13th February 2026. The album marks his first full-length release on XL Recordings and is his most definitive artistic statement to date. Following 2021s immersive Harlecore project, Harle considers Cerulean his true debut. This is my debut album, he says. It really is the big one.

Cerulean is a voyage into vast, alien sonic landscapes where speaker-blowing bass and euphoric trance synths meet classical harmonies, tactile sound design and Harles own field recordings of waves lapping against the shore. It embodies Harles pursuit of melancholic euphoria - a blend of megalophobic majesty and raw humanity - inspired by Andrei TarkovskysStalker, existing on the threshold between dreams and reality.

Seekingthe best melodies sung by the best voices,Harle enlisted an exceptional cast of collaborators, includingCaroline Polachek, Clairo, Julia Michaels, PinkPantheress, OklouandMNEK, alongside newer voices like kacha, and even his own daughters. Across 13 tracks, Ceruleanbalances dancefloor power with emotional resonance to brilliant effect. Meanwhile, Harles wide-ranging influences - from hedonistic rave to the haunting Dark Souls video game series, Philip GlasssEinstein on theBeach, and Renaissance and Elizabethan composers like Monteverdi, Thomas Tallis, and William Byrd - underpin the albums dazzling, genre (and centuries)-spanning focus.

Fusing rave maximalism, classical composition, and emotional depth, Cerulean is the latest evolution of Harles artistic journey, distilling his lifelong fascination with beauty, wonder, and the unknown. I just have this mad desire to make my own favourite music, he says. Thats all Ive ever wanted to do.

Speaking about the collaboration, Harle says: I already knew Oklou from our frequent collaboration, I simply sent the song over to her, she nailed the vocal and sent it back. We didnt have to share many words as we love very similar things about music. She has a particular ability to convey emotion through tone, and I really feel it in this one, there is a surreal alien beauty to her delivery.

I knew Uzo (MNEK) as well, I am honoured to have the king of UK house grace the most house-adjacent track on my album with such a soaring and emotional vocal.