Masquerade 2026 Releases - 3 Singles, 2 EPs, and A Lot Of Evolution

Following my debut synthpop album Afterlove in 2025, I'm excited to announce all the music I'm releasing in 2026! 

March 13, 2026 - Trust Issues (Single)

You've been here before, on the edge of opening up or shutting it all down. You've been through it too many times. And yet…what if it's different this time? Here's a song for when trust feels like a velvet wrapped dagger. 

 

May 8, 2026 - Runaway (Single)

It's never too late to turn a corner! Runaway is energetic and uplifting, urging you to chase all your hopes and dreams, to bravely run through that open door for a brighter future. 

 

July 10, 2026 - Darkest Hours (EP)

I wrote my Darkest Hours EP during a merciless polar vortex. When the power went out for hours, and I was grappling with hardships in the freezing dark, I still found the strength to chase the warmth of light. 

Here are the songs I'm very excited for you to hear!

1. I'm Lonely
2. Darkest Hours
3. Temptation

These three songs lean into more raw production, with bittersweet piano being the focal point. I wanted everything to sound like you were sitting with me in my room with a bleak flashlight, squinting through the dark and leaning in to hear my words.
 

All the lyrics for Darkest Hours are motivated by struggle, both personal and societal. As I was writing, I realized I've been struggling for so long that sometimes I wonder, who am I without this struggle? 

If I suddenly stopped struggling—to pay bills, to stop being lonely, to believe in myself, to have faith in the future—what kind of person would I be? Would I be happier? Wiser? Stronger? What does it even take to get there?

That’s why my Darkest Hours EP is all about being your best, despite your worst and finding out what it truly takes to stand on your own two feet. 

 

September 4, 2026 - Technofeudalism (EP)

In a world where tech giants control the digital platforms and data that we depend on for access to information, services, and work, I increasingly find myself overwhelmed, concerned, and at a loss. I notice that we wade through the static, grovelling at the altar of AI as it distorts the very reality around us. I sweat alongside you as we slave away in this brave new world of constant chaos and disruption, in exchange for scraps of digital power. Yet we keep our eyes fixed on the horizon. We still feel love, hope, and find the will to fight for a brighter future.

Technofeudalism may have replaced capitalism, but it will never truly replace us–because to be human is to be able to feel deeply and act together to make this world a better place for us all.

I hope these songs will be thought provoking and inspiring:

1. Technofeudalism
2. Silenced
3. Love Is A Flame

"So, what is my hypothesis? It is that capitalism is now dead, in the sense that its dynamics no longer govern our economies. In that role it has been replaced by something fundamentally different, which I call technofeudalism. At the heart of my thesis is an irony that may sound confusing at first but which I hope to show makes perfect sense: the thing that has killed capitalism is…capital itself.

Not capital as we have known it since the dawn of the industrial era, but a new form of capital, a mutation of it that has arisen in the last two decades, so much more powerful than its predecessor that like a stupid, overzealous virus it has killed off its host.

Real power today resides not with the owners of traditional capital, such as machinery, buildings, railway and phone networks, industrial robots. They continue to extract profits from workers, from waged labour, but they are not in charge as they once were. They have become vassals in relation to a new class of feudal overlord, the owners of cloud capital. 

As for the rest of us, we have returned to our former status as serfs, contributing to the wealth and power of the new ruling class with our unpaid labour – in addition to the waged labour we perform, when we get the chance. 

Does all this matter to the way we live and experience our lives? It certainly does.”

Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism

November 20, 2026 - Have It Your Way (Single)

There's power in letting people underestimate and misunderstand you. Then, you can prove them all wrong by being your best self! Have It Your Way is a confidence boosting song reminding you to stand firm in who you are and what you believe in. 

Recording and Production 

Staying true to my DIY ethos, I did all the pre-production, graphic design, photos, lyric videos, and visualizers. It was incredibly fun and fulling!
  

All the music, lyrics, and recording was done in the same breath: rough acoustic demos from December 2-7, 2025 to fully produced songs by February 9, 2026.

As Masquerade, these consistent releases reflect my sonic shift into electropunk and post punk. Across three singles and two EPs, my emotionally engaging songwriting, meticulous production, and fearless creativity will surely leave its mark on you!