Interview: Montreal’s Erik Lankin Transforms Grief into Uplifting Neoclassical Soundscapes on ‘Icarus’ Featuring “Onward My Son”

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, Icarus, 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, Icarus brought together some of Canada’s finest classical soloists, neoclassical producers, and engineers to realize Erik’s ambitious vision.

1. What did you enjoy most about the recording process of this new release?
Working with musicians of such stunningly high caliber. Ditto for the producers and post production team.

2. Share a nugget of advice that has resonated with you most over the years.
Be transparent about your own limits and allow the expertise of others to elevate your creations.

3. Who would be your dream artist/band to co-headline a tour with?
Taylor Swift duh. Genre aligned probably Nils (Frahm) or Max (Richter).

4. What sets your music apart from others in your genre?
A lot of neoclassical is fairly cynical and replicating 2010s era close-mic’d minimalism for background listening playlists. My music is created with a broad range of dynamics, colours and timbres made with different instruments as well as electroacoustic sound design.

5. Tell us what your favourite song is at the moment and why.
Perverts by Ethel Cain is a binaural sound design masterpiece.

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