Formed in 2010 in St Petersburg Russia,’ iamthemorning’ features pianist Gleb Kolyadin and the charismatic vocals of Marjana Semkina. The band self released their debut album in 2012 before signing to Kscope and releasing ‘Belighted’ their debut for the label in September 2014.

As with ‘Belighted’, the engineering and mixing on ‘Lighthouse’ was handled by Marcel van Limbeek (Tori Amos) and self produced by Gleb and Marjana. The album also features guest musicians Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) on drums, Colin Edwin Porcupine Tree) on bass and additional vocals on the album’s title track by Mariusz Duda (Lunatic Soul, Riverside).

‘Lighthouse’ is a rich and eclectic album, with echoes of classical music, the Canterbury scene, northern folk, jazz and electronic sounds.

Recorded across London, Moscow & St Petersburg, the core instrument of the band, the grand piano, was recorded in Mosfilm Studios Moscow, the largest and oldest studios in Russia. Founded in 1920, Mosfilm is renowned for recording orchestras for soundtracks for the most famous Soviet-era films, including works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein.

‘Lighthouse’ is a story of the progression of mental illness. The album takes the listener through the stages with the story’s central character – her attempts to fight it, temporal remission leading to a final breakdown. Lyrically, the album has been inspired by the works and lives of Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath.

Album artwork for ‘Lighthouse’ was created by watercolour artist Constantine Nagishkin who the band have previous collaborated with on covers.

“St Petersburg duo cast a shining light on Russian prog” – Prog Magazine