Ataraxia drop second single ‘Llawarra’ from new album ‘Sylfaera the Fair’
Ataraxia
The Italian neoclassical darkwave and dark folk act Ataraxia have just released the single and video “Llawarra”, the second advance track from their 30th studio album “Sylfaera the Fair”, due on May 21, 2026 via The Circle Music. The album closes the trilogy that began with “Pomegranate (The Chant of the Elementals)” in 2022 and continued with “Centaurea” in 2024. Confirmed formats are Digi CD, a marbled transparent turquoise and black LP limited to 400 copies, and a deluxe silver-embossed box limited to 100 copies.
The band describes the new track as a song that “unveils archaic Mediterranean hierogamic rites,” talking about sacred union, rebirth and harmony between earth and heaven. The accompanying video draws on ritual imagery from multiple cultures and places female figures at the centre of that symbolism. The single also adds Katerina Gerakari on spoken vocals, Alessia Baraldi on back vocals, and Gregorio Bellodi on low and tin whistles.
Musically, you can expect this from the new album: a blend of dark folk, ritual folk and medieval or Nordic colour, with the core line-up of Francesca Nicoli, Vittorio Vandelli and Giovanni Pagliari again joined by selected guests. The album has Nicoli on vocals, bells and chimes, Vandelli on bouzouki, guitars, drums, backing vocals and programming, and Pagliari on keyboards, horn, backing vocals and programming.
About Ataraxia
Ataraxia are an Italian neoclassical darkwave and dark folk ensemble from Modena in Emilia-Romagna. The band was formed in November 1985 by vocalist Francesca Nicoli and bassist Michele Urbano. Guitarist Vittorio Vandelli joined in December 1986 and keyboardist Giovanni Pagliari in January 1990; from the early 1990s onward, Nicoli, Vandelli, and Pagliari became the group’s enduring creative core.
Ataraxia is more a multidisciplinary project working across music, poetry, and visual art. In their work they merge acoustic and contemporary instrumentation and uses texts in both ancient and modern languages, with recurring references to Mediterranean and Celtic cultures, mythology, ritual, and nature.
Ataraxia first built an underground following through self-produced cassette releases: “Prophetia” in 1990, “Nosce te Ipsum” in 1991, and “Arazzi” plus “Sub ignissima luna” in 1993. Their first full release followed in 1994 with “Simphonia sine Nomine” on Energeia/Apollyon and “Ad perpetuam rei memoriam” on Apollyon. Those release were followed by “La Malédiction d’Ondine” and “The Moon Sang on the April Chair” in 1995, the split 10-inch “In Amoris Mortisque” with Engelsstaub, then “Il fantasma dell’Opera” and “Concerto N. 6” in 1996.
In 1998 Ataraxia released “Historiae” through Cold Meat Industry, “Orlando” through Prikosnovénie, and the live album “Os cavaleiros do templo – Live in Portugal” through Symbiose. These were followed by “Lost Atlantis” in 1999, “Sueños” and the retrospective “A Calliope” in 2001, “Mon Seul Désir” in 2002, “Des Paroles Blanches” in 2003, “Saphir” in 2004, the acoustic double set “Odos eis Ouranon” and the book-plus-CD project “Arcana Eco” in 2005, then “Paris Spleen” in 2006 and “Kremasta Nera” in 2007. In 2004 Vittorio Vandelli released the solo album “A Day of Warm Rain in Heaven” with Nicoli participating on vocals. Francesca Nicoli from here side did guest work on Monumentum’s “In Absentia Christi” back in 1995. “Llyr” was released in 2010 and was the launch for several more albums: “Spasms” in 2013, “Wind at Mount Elo” in 2014, “Ena” in 2015, “Deep Blue Firmament” in 2016, “Synchronicity Embraced” in 2018, and “Quasar” in 2020.
Ataraxia is now signed to The Circle Music, which has handled the recent releases beginning with the 2021 vinyl reissue of “Sueños” and the studio trilogy “Pomegranate (The Chant of the Elementals)” in 2022, “Centaurea” in 2024, and “Sylfaera the Fair” in 2026. Between those albums, the band issued a sequence of singles and videos including “Hlara Aralh,” “Aura Magi,” “The Source,” “Galen,” “Viriditas,” “Coelestis,” and “Sylfaera,” while 2025 also brought the standalone track “Breath of Soundrops” for “The Five Senses” compilation.
And now there is “Sylfaera the Fair,” Ataraxia’s 30th studio album, with “Llawarra” as the next single from that release.
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