Behind the name and the music is Canadian composer Erik Lankin, a Montreal-based neoclassical artist blending traditional orchestration with contemporary sound design. His debut release, The Icarus Album, reinterprets the myth of Daedalus and Icarus as a deeply personal metaphor for loss, grief, and transformation. Its triumphant focus track, “Onward My Son,” delivers an uplifting narrative of overcoming grief with resonant melodies and intricate production.

Inspired by the myth of Icarus and his father Daedalus, “Onward My Son” conveys the weight of inherited legacies and the struggle to forge a new path forward. The track reflects on how modern masculinity has often failed fathers and sons alike, transforming a narrative of despair into one of hope and triumph.

This is Erik’s most personal work to date, channeling his grief into music that feels both intensely raw and universally relatable. The culmination of years of painstaking effort, The Icarus Album brought together some of Canada’s finest classical soloists, neoclassical producers, and engineers to realize Erik’s ambitious vision.

In context, at the end of a full album listen, “Onward My Son” leaves me feeling transformed and uplifted. But as a single, it’s almost too personal – I can’t listen to it without feeling angry at the absence of my dad. This song is about the words he never figured out how to say, to me or to himself, and the pain of creating in the aftermath of that loss. – Erik Lankin