As If I Always Knew (Cian Sweeney) – releases new single ‘The Number 4’

Following a sold-out show at Cork Midsummer Festival under the Helios installation in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Irish composer and pianist Cian Sweeney returns with the second single from his semi-improvised piano project As If I Always Knew. Titled “The Number 4”, the piece was recorded and filmed live in a single take at his Birds of Paradise studio in Cork.

Rooted in stillness, presence, and imperfection, the track is built using a pentatonic scale consisting of only the black keys of the piano. A meditative, pentatonic flow that resembles Debussy or other impressionistic music, the piece crescendos and diminuendos before breaking the ambiguity and resolving into soft B major chord before the final theme returns. A sonic snapshot of a moment that can never be replicated.

“This was the fourth piece we tracked when recording Improvisations 1, hence the name,” explains Cian. “I had the idea to improvise something using just the black keys, keeping it within a simple pentatonic palette. In the weeks leading up to the recording, I’d been learning Debussy’s Pagodes from his Estampes, a piece he wrote after hearing a gamelan at the World Fair in Paris in the early 1900s. That pentatonic, almost Oriental sound clearly influenced him, and through Pagodes, I think it found its way into this improvisation too.”

This release continues the buildup to the project’s debut album Improvisations 1, due out on 10th September 2025. A collection of solo piano works recorded live in a single afternoon at Birds of Paradise Studio, each piece was captured in one take, without edits, and built entirely from spontaneous composition.

The album release coincides with a five-night run at Dublin Fringe Festival. With influences including Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Einaudi, and Debussy, the project sits at the intersection of contemporary classical, ambient, and improvisational music.

With As If I Always Knew, Cian seeks to reconnect with his audience on a more intimate level. While his successful work as a producer has garnered over 130 million streams, this project shifts focus back to his roots as a pianist and artist in his own right. Fans will have exclusive access to new music through the project’s YouTube channel and Bandcamp, as well as early announcements for upcoming live performances throughout 2025, for which subscribers to the project’s mailing list will receive priority access.

Sign up to As If I Always Knew mailing list: https://subscribepage.io/asifialwaysknew

LIVE DATES:

16th, 17th , 18th, 19th, 20th, September – DUBLIN, Dublin Fringe Festival

Tickets on sale 1.30pm Wednesday 9th July at https://www.fringefest.com/