Emerging talent ION is the moniker of London-born Jon Sadiku, whose origins are in Kosovo. His music seeks to express in abstract ways the thoughts and feelings he has towards the world and himself, culminating in art that is lush in soundscape and sentimental in theme.

ION, an indie-trap artist, makes a comeback with his energetic song ‘Surface Tension’. The song is a lively offering that displays his range as a vocalist and lyricist whilst being surrounded by atmospheric synthesis, resulting in a beautifully frenetic listening experience that touches on themes of societal restriction.

Its concepts are further magnified in the music video, with his performance being inspired by the psychological profile of Joaquin Phoenix’ ‘The Joker (2019)’ to deliver an intense depiction of the mental constraint and instability created by society.

He keeps establishing himself as a rising star under the imaginative alias ION, driven as much by his innate inventiveness as by high production value and elaborate instrumentation.

On the song, ION says, “This is the first single from an EP that is immersed deeply in themes of insanity. ‘Surface Tension’ contributes to this as a frantic documentation of how one can feel ‘suffocated’ trying to live under the confines/control set by society, consequently being deemed as ‘going insane if we fail to adhere. The music video visually magnifies these concepts, using the imagery of a psychiatric ward as a raw mental representation of this ‘suffocation’ and ‘trapping’.”

ION spent a large amount of his upbringing in the Kosovan mountains, with this pure environment helping him develop his abstract way of thinking and creating material as an artist. His afflatus stems from this connection he has to the natural world, which is something that he is proud of and passionately honours not just through his music but also in his way of life. His current artists’ influences include the likes of JPEGMAFIA and HOMESHAKE.