YANN TIERSEN

YANN TIERSEN

Yann Tiersen returns with a solo piano + electronics performance, presenting his new album Rathlin from a Distance | The Liquid Hour.

In a time of climate urgency, Tiersen is redefining what it means to tour, rejecting capitalist norms in favor of authenticity and connection. From his solitary winter journey across Europe – Brest to Tallinn, with no crew and only his dog for company, never driving faster than 61mph, sleeping in people’s gardens instead of hotels, and avoiding the usual consumerist trappings of touring – to voyages aboard his sailboat Ninnog, where he sailed through Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, Shetland, Wales, and Cornwall, and even ventured to the Arctic in summer 2025, Tiersen has brought his music to extraordinary landscapes and intimate settings, forging genuine connections with local crews and organizers.

Rathlin from a Distance | The Liquid Hour is a two-part album, each section distinct yet deeply interconnected. Rathlin from a Distance is a collection of eight introspective piano instrumentals. Tiersen explains:

“There is something transformative about being at sea. Stripped of the world’s weight and noise, you face only the raw, untamed forces of nature – and yourself. Out there, you can begin to challenge your beliefs, your identity, your gender – even the person you thought you were. I began to shed the expectations and roles society imposes on us. The waves demand honesty. Each piano piece reflects both a place we visited and a moment of meditation. They are maps to the self, guides to the essence of who you are – not the version shaped by societal expectation. It’s a call to connect, to be vulnerable, and to find solace in authenticity.”
The Liquid Hour, by contrast, is an expansive, genre-defying blend of electronic synthesis and dynamic psychedelic rhythms. Inspired by a moment at the helm of his sailboat with Belfast shimmering on the horizon, Tiersen recalls:

“I think of the bruises left by systems grinding against us, I feel the fury rise – ancient, raw, electric. The water mirrors my rage. And my hope. This is a war against the choking vines of capitalism, binding our roots, stealing our light. It’s a wipeout of everything broken – and a rebuilding, hand in hand, heart to heart, until despair has no space left. I feel this energy swelling inside me, the urge to act, to gather, to rise. Because the future doesn’t wait. It’s there – blinding, brilliant, gender-fluid, shimmering with brightness. This is for you. For all of us. For what’s coming, for what we’ll build together. The soundtrack to our uprising.”