The leftfield pop project, Rohn‑Lederman, brings together two artists from different corners of the dark electronic world.
Emileigh Rohn is a Detroit-based vocalist, songwriter and producer best known for her long‑running project, Chiasm, for which she crafts intimate, industrial‑leaning electronic songs. Rohn’s work tends to fold personal – often anxious – lyricism into sparse, moody arrangements, giving her voice a confessional, slightly haunted presence.
Jean‑Marc Lederman, by contrast, is a Belgian composer and producer with decades of work in European alternative and electronic music. His experience ranges from acts like Fad Gadget, The Weathermen and Kid Montana to ambient and soundtrack‑style projects. Where Rohn’s background mostly is solo writing and production, Lederman’s is rooted in shifting collaborations, sound design, and sweeping vistas summoned through synths and programming.
The duo’s new album, Volcano, trades the duo’s usual synthetic shimmer for something rougher around the edges. Across its 12 tracks, you can hear them leaning into a more cathartic register, framing Rohn’s vocal intensity with guitars that snarl rather than simply decorate. Earlier releases like Venus Chariot and Forbidden Planet often felt like intricate electronic architecture – loaded with industrial pulses, cinematic synths, and controlled atmospherics. Volcano, by contrast, feels more like a pressure valve being released.
The lead single, “Paper Plane,” sets the tone. Rohn’s voice is almost a whisper as she shares the news that she is a toy boat. The instrumentation is stripped back and creates space for her story to unfold.
The guitar‑influenced arrangements blur the line between electro project and alt‑guitar band in a way similar to Frank Tovey’s mid-career shift towards stringed instruments. Our favourite track is – perhaps ironically but also predictably – the most synth-oriented. “To Greener Grass” is simple in its structure but endearing in its tone.
If earlier Rohn‑Lederman recordings invited you to ease into their world, Volcano is more direct. It’s not their sleekest album, but that’s rather the point – in many ways, it’s their most human.
Volcano is released on 6 March 2026.