Canty has something unique. An East London multi-disciplinarian who blends the old with the new, the sacred with the profane, the tender with the explicit, their output both as a songwriter and visual artist occupies its own lane. Moving and distinctive, Canty’s incoming album ‘Dim Binge’ is their truest testimony yet, a work of scorched autobiography that feels utterly distinctive.

The songs on ‘Dim Binge’ have deep roots. The record reaches back to Canty’s earliest memories, before tackling their most recent dilemmas. A project prompted by what they term as “a few before-and-after moments” it looks beyond these crises to supply something universal. “Songwriting is something that just makes sense to me,” Canty says. “I love how melodies and words intersect. It’s sacred to me.”

Working from a mate’s flat Canty started “spewing ideas out” in an epic fit of creativity, matching musical exhalation to hours spent carving, scratching, and scribbling portraits on old pieces of cardboard. Canty began patching these together, a collage-like approach creating something multi-faceted, complex, but wholly striking. As Canty puts it, the sessions were “a binge cocktail of self-care, psilocybin and self-recording.”

Lead single ‘Mirrorball’ is a striking entrance point – a work of revelation that faces up to a huge personal challenge. “About a year ago my legs went numb,” Canty recalls. “Then I ended up going to hospital for a little while… and I was diagnosed with MS.” The song’s lyrics even reference this diagnosis, with the words “cables in my spine” becoming a loose echo of a doctor’s prognosis. The song goes beyond that, though – laced with information and detail, it’s a reference to the overwhelming internal landscape verging on euphoria, whether that’s anxiety, sensory overload, or the legacy of trauma.

Take the lyrical motif of ‘St Marks’ – penned during lockdown, it’s a reference to the inevitability of life’s crises. “I guess it’s about pushing through a bad situation and getting out the other side.” Yet the song doesn’t revel in darkness – Canty embodies a sense of perseverance and pursuance.

‘Follower’ is an “inverted stalker tune”, playing with imagery of self-checkout cameras and facial recognition software. “It’s about wilfully assimilating ourselves into digital information networks, it’s a love song about mass surveillance.”

The album is matched to a book of drawings from this multi-faceted artist, and it’s given unity by elements of their live performances, with Canty helming pop-up events at underground venues across East London. The notion of performance is key here, with ‘Being It’ finding Canty covering an Arthur Russell deep cut. “I’m quite needle-phobic,” Canty reveals, “so every time I have to be given an injection I’ll play that song.”

Someone who relishes connection, Canty is making a huge impression. Playing key sets at The Great Escape and Simple Things Festival, their early work was beloved by 6Music and KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic. Working with pivotal imprint Full Time Hobby, ‘Dim Binge’ is both an exhalation, and a clearing of the decks. “This album has been a learning process – what works for me, what I like. A way to make sure that music isn’t the problem, it’s the solution”.