Light Stain At Dawn - EP

by Zar

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Book/Magazine
To experiment with preserving music in a physical media outside of vinyl, and for documenting the process of putting this record together, I wrote a companion book.

I hope the book educates, inspires and encourages you to really sit with a piece of music, understand it & digest it in ways that feel rare at the moment.

This book is:

- part diary and reflections
- part art critique and thematic analysis on the record
- part production explainer on how the record was made
- part Neuroscience & Psychology explainer on how we process emotions

It is an attempt at conveying the story & creation of Light Stain At Dawn, and myself as an artist, in ways a ten second video simply cannot.

These books are made to order. ... more

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PDF Version of the Companion Book, emailed to you upon purchase.

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Vinyl 12" - Made To Order - (NOT SOLD OUT SEE DESCRIPTION)
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
12" 2nd pressing of Light Stain at Dawn - these are made to order through Elastic Stage, please order from below:

elasticstage.com/cdr/releases/light-stain-at-dawn-album

Includes unlimited streaming of Light Stain At Dawn - EP via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.

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1.	You're It! 01:49		buy track
2.	Slip 11:10	info	buy track
3.	Deph 05:56	info	buy track
4.	Light Stain At Dawn 05:00		buy track
5.	Peace To All Mankind 09:30		buy track
6.	Deph (SUCHI Remix) 05:33		buy track

about

CDR is proud to present the inaugural release on Pathways, a new groundbreaking artist development programme designed to invest in, nurture and promote the next wave of innovative electronic music creators.

Titled Light Stain at Dawn, the first Pathways release comes from Zar – a thrilling up-and-coming artist whose previous releases have seen him pick up press from Mixmag, DJ Mag & Bandcamp, and scene support from the likes of Naina, Raji Rags, Samrai, Baalti and Suchi. Affiliated with DAYTIMERS and Rhythm Section, this EP sees Zar step out on his own across five tracks focused on the middle ground between functional club music structures and traditional instrumentation.

Ambition is the name of the game here – though it doesn’t take long to realise Zar has the chops to pull it off. Following a short intro, ‘Slip’ sets out his stall: live guitar, bansuri, harmonium & strings working in tandem with a house beat across an eleven-minute epic. The EP’s lead single ‘Deph’ strips things down for the most DJ-friendly track here, before title track ‘Light Stain at Dawn’ lets the live strings stretch out and take centre-stage. Finally, ‘Peace to All Mankind’ closes things on a bittersweet piano loop and chopped samples – proof that for all that the live instruments on this EP soar, sometimes nothing beats the scissors tool.

There’s also a remix by Suchi, whose remix of ‘Deph’ takes the track somewhere subterranean with a growling bassline and staccato keys.

In Zar’s words, “Light Stain at Dawn is the most complete sounding record I've made so far. I’m incredibly excited, happy and proud of what I’ve made, I really hope it resonates with listeners. The record is an exploration of the process of dealing with emotions, from arising through to completion, and the lessons learned along the way. The record was heavily inspired by my experiences of going through therapy. It has many firsts for me: the first time I recorded live instruments, the first time I scored and arranged for a string quartet, the first time I played instruments myself, the first time exploring new genres through contemporary classical. I’m grateful for the opportunity to make this record via CDR’s Pathways programme, thank you for listening.”

credits

released March 28, 2025

Written, produced, arranged, recorded & mixed by Arun Dhanjal at Sleepy Sunflower Studios
Additional mixing & production by Tony Nwachukwu at The Old Stationary Building
String Quartet recorded at Sounds Like These Studios, engineering: Charlie Shrives

Track 6 remix produced by Suchi Ahuja & mixed by Works of Intent

Bass Guitar (Tracks 4 & 5) performed by Arun Dhanjal
Bansuri, Acoustic Guitar & Harmonium (Track 2) written & performed by Sameer Khan

Cello (Tracks 1, 2 & 4): Maddy Hamilton
Viola (Tracks 1, 2 & 4): Evie Hilyer-Ziegler
Violin (Tracks 1, 2 & 4): Nina Lim
Violin (Tracks 1, 2 & 4): Kauri May

Mastered by Adam Scrimshire

Artwork: Natasha Patel
A&R: Tom Lea

Special thanks to: Adam Kingsley, Alex Mankoo, Arts Council England, CDR, Charlie Shrives, Charlie Webb, Cherry Yip, Eleanor Howard, Freya Hicks, Genevieve Taylor, Jozef White, Kieran Dhanjal, Natasha Patel, Pritpal Ajimal, PRS Foundation, Rosh Chauhan, Sameer Khan, Sean Keating, Somin Griffin-Dave, Suchi Ahuja, Tom Lea, Tony Nwachukwu, Zak Stone.

No AI was used in the making of this record or artwork.

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about

Zar London, UK

🔉CDR / Tabula Rasa Records / Voices Radio / Karma Sheen

💃🏽 MGMT: jozef@maisonblanc.net

"An exciting prospect in the sphere of electronic composition." - DJ Mag

✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️✨🪻⛓️⚪️ ... more

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