Alternative art-rock artist Christian Cohle today releases new single ‘Venus’ – a cinematic exploration of love as a powerful force, balancing beauty, danger and mythology.
Described as one of Ireland’s best kept secrets (The Line of Best Fit), Christian Cohle has emerged as an artist with a distinctly accomplished sound, marked by an intensely immersive and raw quality.
Sitting at the intersection of music and visual art, his work carries a cinematic and ambient flair, often grounded by the strength of his vocals. Peppered with influences such as LCD Soundsystem, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Talk Talk, Tears for Fears and Roxy Music, his lyrics hang partially obscured in dreamlike and poetic imagery, offering a sense of ambiguity that invites a deep, visceral connection.
A standout track from his newly-announced third album, Queen of Ashes (out October 16th), and a particular favourite of Cohle’s mix engineer and co-producer Michael Heffernan, ‘Venus’ captures much of the emotional heart of the record. Longtime collaborator of Cohle’s and artist Renaud Gabriel Pion, who also featured extensively on acclaimed album WETLANDS, returns with expressive alto and tenor saxophone performances, while Alex Reeves (Elbow) lays down a hypnotic, driving rhythm that underpins the song’s central idea: outrunning and enduring the emptiness left behind when a love becomes almost mythological
Throughout ‘Venus’, Cohle uses mythology as a lens to explore the complicated nature of love as something that can be beautiful and deeply powerful, but also having an element of danger. Inspired by the goddess Venus as the embodiment of love and attraction, the song presents her not as a perfect figure , but as a force of nature;captivating yet quietly dangerous. Cohle says:
“I was drawn to the image of Venus as the mythological embodiment of love and attraction, but I wasn’t interested in portraying her as a perfect goddess, but rather a force of nature, both divine and predatory.”
This duality runs throughout the track, with imagery such as “Venus’ virtue she bites and bites” and “I kept your voice in a vial” reflecting the ways we can preserve and surrender ourselves to love, even when it begins to fill us with fear.
The refrain “I’ll keep on running” becomes the emotional centre of the track, capturing the feeling of spending years trying to outrun someone who still occupies a part of your inner self.Like a spider’s web, love can continue to hold us long after we’ve tried to let go. ‘Venus’ is not a symbol of good or bad, but rather a powerful force, one that continues to shape and influence us:
“It’s not a line about escape. It’s about the strange feeling of spending years trying to outrun someone who still occupies a part of your inner self.”
Through ‘Venus’, Cohle continues his exploration of mythology as a way of understanding his own experiences, which is a recurring theme throughout his upcoming album Queen of Ashes.
Christian Cohle plays Whelan’s on Friday, November 13th, launching third album Queen of Ashes. Tickets are on sale now from whelanslive.com
‘Venus’ cover art by Narayan Van Maele
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