PANOPTICON
Songs of Hiraeth

Kentuckian living in Minnesota returns with his most sorrowful, introspective album yet. A search for hope in a bleak world. Easily the darkest and heaviest record of his entire career. 

Double Silver Vinyl • 7 mm Spined Gatefold Jacket • Poly-lined Innersleeves

 collection long in the shadows, “Songs of Hiraeth” brings to light a body of work written and recorded between 2009 and 2011 – songs once set aside, scattered across forgotten splits or lost to the passing of time. Now, remixed, re-amped, and newly presented, these tracks finally take their rightful place within the Panopticon canon.

Originally intended for collaborative releases that never materialised, these seven songs were born during a formative period for Austin Lunn – a time of travel, personal growth, and political reflection. Themes of indigenous history, green anarchism, and the consequences of industrialisation blend with a deep sense of nostalgia and the urge to shed past trauma.

“Songs of Hiraeth” stands not as a meditation on death, but as a tribute to transition, memory, and paths once wandered. It captures the spirit of an era – now brought into focus with the clarity of hindsight.

Limited Transparent Vinyl • Poly-Lined Innersleeve • 3 mm Spined Jacket with UV Spot Print

Written alongside “...And Again into the Light” (2021), this companion piece trades distortion for acoustic resonance – banjo, mandolin, resonator guitar, and twin violins painting a soundscape steeped in frost, memory, and resilience. While the palette is gentler, the themes remain no less weighty: the burden of regret, the passage of time, and the quiet act of holding on – not for oneself, but for those who remind us of our worth.

Inspired by songwriters like Blaze Foley and Townes Van Zandt, “Laurentian Blue” is a record of stark beauty and quiet defiance. It stands as a testament to Panopticon’s ever-evolving spirit – wherever the sound may go, the heart remains the same.