Mikhail Daken is no stranger to the eerie, the ethereal, and the emotionally devastating. With his latest single Dissolution, released on January 27, 2025, the dreamo-alternative singer-songwriter takes listeners into a spectral soundscape, a place where reality melts into shadow and introspection turns into surrender. As the second chapter in his upcoming EP A Place Beyond Lost, Dissolution expands on Daken’s signature fusion of textured acoustic instrumentation, sprawling electronic ambiance, and gothic undertones, creating an immersive experience that is as haunting as it is beautiful.
Following the success of Fable, Dissolution is once again co-produced by George Lever (known for his work with Sleep Token and Loath) alongside Daken himself. The track is a masterclass in sonic world-building, layering brooding cellos, crystalline water glasses, atmospheric distorted woodwinds, and reverberated guitars over urgent percussion and icy acoustic strings. The result is a deeply evocative mood-piece, where every element feels meticulously placed to evoke a sense of longing, loss, and transformation.
Daken’s vocal performance is restrained yet arresting, balancing delicate whispers with moments of aching clarity. His lyrics, vivid yet open to interpretation, invite listeners to project their own meaning onto the song. It’s a slow unraveling, a meditation on dissolution itself—whether it be the disintegration of self, love, or something more metaphysical. There is a sense of inevitability in the way the song swells and recedes, like waves pulling the listener further into an ocean of emotion they may never escape from.
The visual counterpart to Dissolution is equally mesmerizing. Directed by Edward Japp, the music video delves deeper into the EP’s overarching narrative, following a lone protagonist—played by the enigmatic artist The Terrible Dogfish—as they navigate a lost realm in a ghostly, dreamlike state. Shot using a mix of 16mm film, digital, and CGI, the video creates a layered, otherworldly aesthetic that perfectly complements the track’s sonic textures. The shifting visual mediums mirror the themes of transition and decay, reinforcing the idea that nothing is permanent and all things eventually dissolve into the unknown.
Beyond the single itself, Daken has crafted an immersive world around Dissolution, using a four-week-long social media campaign to extend the narrative. Fantastical “lore videos” featuring cinematic remixes of the track’s score have pulled fans into the deeper mythology of A Place Beyond Lost. These snippets, rich with sound design and haunting imagery, have blurred the lines between music, storytelling, and visual art, making the release feel like part of a larger, unfolding saga rather than just a standalone song.
Dissolution is not just a song—it’s an experience. It demands to be felt as much as heard, pulling listeners into a space where time slows and emotions take shape in the form of sound. Daken continues to push the boundaries of dreamo-alternative, creating music that doesn’t just exist but lingers, haunts, and seduces. If Dissolution is any indication of what A Place Beyond Lost has in store, then Mikhail Daken is leading us into a world unlike anything we’ve seen before—one where beauty and ruin exist side by side, and surrender is the only way forward.
