Sunfear, the project of Istanbul-based multidisciplinary artist Eylül Deniz, debuts on Dark Entries with Octopus. Since 2017, Deniz has been working as a composer, performer, and DJ, with a focus on different facets of ambient, jazz, and experimental music. Deniz is deeply steeped in both music theory and history. She explores electroacoustic techniques, utilizing piano, guitar, voice, and synthesizer. These are her tools for self-expression, the means to tell her story to the world.

Octopus is a rumination on loneliness, memory, and Deniz’s childhood fondness for aquatic creatures. The ten songs on the album are static and turbulent, mournful and optimistic, grounded and otherworldly. A field recording of a gently flowing stream undergirds instrumental album opener “Dokun”. The stream begins by soothing us, but as tension builds throughout the song, its presence becomes unstable, uncanny. On “I Don’t Know Why I’m Crying”, a repeating motif serves as the canvas for Deniz’s majestic, reverberant voice. While the source of sorrow remains unknowable, her catharsis is pure and real. The penultimate track, “Octopus”, breaks into an unexpected trip hop-esque beat, which only enriches the album’s introspective terroir. With Octopus, Deniz gently guides the listener to places unknown.

All songs on Octopus were mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The sleeve, designed by Eloise Leigh, features a manipulated photograph taken by Deniz, which contrasts textures and colors in a non-representational fashion. Also included is an 11 x 11 insert with lyrics and a photo.