EDEN doesn’t emerge as a large presence upon first glance—and that’s likely intentional. His demeanor is casual, his clothes blend together, his Irish accent jubilant yet not overbearing. But when his artistry comes into the picture, he lights up, transforming into a vibrant being right before your very eyes. His music is similar, starting off with simple acoustic strings and soft vocals before growing into its own self-contained yet intense storm filled with soaring growls, mind-bending synths and vocal tricks, and lines that immediately captivate your attention. Both his music and persona seem reflective of his overall goal on his upcoming debut album—to make something grand and magical out of something that seems much smaller.

“The entire album in a way is about small moments and how sometimes they can feel absolutely, monstrously big, like making a mountain out of a molehill,” he says. “And something small or insignificant can be a really big deal for you. And other people can sometimes disregard it or you can sometimes be like and tell yourself like, ‘Okay, shut up. That’s just not a big deal,’ but it can still be a big deal even if it’s not the end of the world.”

His mission carries on to his recent music videos, the most recent of which, “Crash,” premieres exclusively on V. “We really wanted to capture small, really grounded moments and kind of explore these in between seconds, so like you might be driving past something I find insanely beautiful. These people who live in L.A. have the most incredible sunsets in the world that happen every day, and it’s not something they pay attention to anymore, whereas I land there and I’m like, ‘Oh, my god. This is so amazing.’” As an East Coast transplant from California, I can attest to this sensation.

“Sometimes you can get so caught up in little things or people, like you can value someone, or your friends or something, almost more than yourself,” EDEN says about the song’s inspiration. “And you can not take care of yourself because you're so conscious of other people or other things. For me, it might have been trying to make this music thing and this album as amazing as it could be, and then if it's amazing or not, that's one thing, but I'm not taking care of myself and it could be amazing and I still don't feel good 'm like, ‘Why, what's going on?’ It's kind of like losing yourself to things like that. I mean balance in your life is so important, and I think the song is really about realizing that, ‘Okay, this isn't right anymore.’ When you're still in that place, you haven't really figured it out, and you're like well, ‘Okay, something needs to be done.’”

His focus on the album was not a hypothetical. EDEN has spent the past three years at work on his debut album, tweaking every detail to his liking with barely any outside help. “I had a chip on my shoulder where I wanted to make this first album completely by myself. So, no one mixed it, no one masters it, no one wrote with me on it, it’s just myself.” The result was vertigo, an emotional record inspired by the personal moments that he’s also afraid to let go of. Contrary to most people, Eden is sensitive to what people think of his output—to an extent.

“I had a moment this week actually where it was just in the back of my mind, ‘What if people don’t feel about it the way I feel about it? Or it’s not received well?’” and I was thinking about it all day. I was like, ‘Shit, what if this is the pinnacle all of the music thing, and this is as big as it’s going to be and it’s just going to get smaller and people are not going to like it as much?’ And the more I thought about it, the more I’ve realized just that I’ve made an album that I wouldn’t take back for the world and I wouldn’t change a second of it for anyone, and that’s the most important thing.”

Now that the record has been pried out of his hands, EDEN is already looking toward the future, even rethinking his creative process for the next project. “I’m really excited to work with people now, but as long as it makes sense for the project and for the song. If for some reason I could get Eminem on a song, I don’t want to do that if it doesn’t make sense.” He embarks on a large headlining tour next year, which is already seeing sell-outs across the country, and he plans to raise the stakes big-time. “This time, I want [the show] to be more visual and really feel substantial or almost like a suspension of disbelief. Like, when you’re watching a movie and you know how sometimes when you realize you’re watching a movie, it kind of ruins the moment for a second? I want to avoid that completely.”

Given the captivating and utterly intriguing output he’s given us so far, the task should be easily doable. And make no mistake—that accomplishment is something he’s proud of, even if he’s afraid to use that word. “I’m immensely, I don’t know if proud is the right word, I don’t like being proud of things, but I’m so glad I took the time and the decisions I took to not have any preconceived notions of, ‘It’s got to have this song. It’s got to have a radio single.’ I just made something that means a lot to me and if they love it, that’s amazing. And if they don’t love it, well I like it and I’m the only person I made it for,” he iterates, laughing all the way to the stage, to play the music for people who relate anyways.