Antoin Gibson’s “Cirque du Sŏnus (Act I & II)”, released on October 31st, 2025 via Circum-Sŏnus, arrives as a milestone and a myth. It’s an audio ceremony marking the official birth of Circum-Sŏnus Ltd. What began as a whisper-dark concept in Gibson’s earlier work now expands into a full theatrical universe, complete with international collaborators, conceptual photoshoots, and fantastic world-building. This two-Act EP plays like a mirror held up to the same moment, with one angle from inside the ring, the other from the shadows outside the tent.
“Cirque du Sŏnus (Act I: The Chant)” kicks things off like an invocation, where the rich, melancholic, almost ritualistic operatic soprano vocal glides in first, before the beat slams down hard and buzzing. The vocalist sings with an empowered smirk, letting the confidence drip through lines like a ringleader revealing the trapdoor under the stage. The production leans electro-clash and theatrical dark-pop, pulsing with thumps that feel like the heartbeat of a creature being summoned. The lyrics turn the EP’s mythology into a performance in itself, full of acrobat metaphors, tightropes, vanishing acts, and “dark sorcery” whispered like a spell. By the time the final melodic spin wraps around the listener, it feels less like a track ending and more like the curtain dropping on Act I.
Then “Cirque du Sŏnus (Act II: The Command)” slinks in with sensual, hypnotic breaths before the beat snaps hard again, reshaping the soundscape into something sharper, more vicious, and more seductive. The voice comes breathier, sultrier, with an authority fully manifested before it grows vicious and smug. The production morphs between slow venomous tension and charged, theatrical bursts. Lyrics grow darker, leaning into danger, knives, juggling, fire, and power dynamics, as if the entire circus tent is collapsing inward under Gibson’s command.
Listen to Cirque du Sŏnus by Antoin Gibson on Spotify.
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Review by: Naomi Joan