Last month, Eoin French (aka Talos) released his new record Dear Chaos, an album inspired by isolation and loss over the last two or more years. But French says it wasn't necessarily the isolation and loss of the pandemic as much as it was about his own personal journey.

In the end, he calls the newly released project the result of a "very personal internal dialogue," one reflective of "madness," but not because of what he observed in the world.

"It's not my place to comment on a global common experience," says the Cork, Ireland-based artist, speaking with Variance over Zoom following the album's release in October, the artist acknowledging so many others experienced their own levels of trauma and grief in different ways. "Who am I to say that I can say it better than anyone else? That's just silly."

The singer says despite the experience of grief which informed so much of the record, it's not all gloomy. And he believes as he and listeners alike navigate a post-pandemic world and a whole new set of struggles and challenges, there are fragments of optimism to latch on to throughout the album.

"There's moments of blue-eyed hope in the album as well," he says, noting: "Yes, the record was inspired by pain and loss, but it's also looking forward, where it feels like, 'Hey, we're coming out on the other side.' That felt important as well, to see that and express that."

But while French says he hopes the record resonates with fans, he admits the music he makes, including this LP, doesn't take that into consideration. He is simply creating what he feels and sharing what he knows to be true in his own life. 

"I hope that people can find common ground in it. It would be really nice that they can," he says. "But I just made an album that was like—something I had to make, you know? It felt like, regardless of anything or how it's received, there's an urgency towards making this. I needed to make this record. 'However long it takes, this album is getting made.' That's how I looked at it—for better or worse."

Now, French is focused on playing live again, and making more music. He just played a few shows around the album release, and he says he will be back in the studio over Christmas, before hitting the road again early next year.

"It's the slow build," he says. "But I plan on releasing some kind of new music as soon as possible. Not sure when yet, but it's coming."■

TALOS' live schedule:
March 09 — Deaf Institute, Manchester
March 10 — Lafayette, London
March 11 — Le Pop Up Du Label, Paris
March 13 — Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam
March 16 — Privatclub, Berlin
March 24 — Cyprus Avenue, Cork
March 25 — Academy, Dublin