Luxembourg-based experimental electronic musician Nico Pleimling, performing under the name Irîs, has announced the release of a new album, The Earth Looked Up And Cried, scheduled for Friday 4 December 2026.

According to the artist, the album will be released through Ethereal Projector, a sublabel of US-based Chitra Records. Nico Pleimling conceived, wrote and recorded the album during the heatwaves that affected Europe in summer 2026, exploring themes of climate change, environmental degradation and anxiety about the planet's future through a combination of ambient, drone, noise, industrial and electroacoustic music.

The album ranges from minimalist piano compositions, including "Of Loss And Hope I" and "Of Loss And Hope III", to darker electronic soundscapes. It also features environmental field recordings by Thomas Martin Nutt on the opening track, "Kyūshū de no inori", and "Requiem For Timmy The Whale", a composition dedicated to a whale stranded along the German and Danish coastlines during the summer.

The album's artwork, created by Nico Pleimling, incorporates original photography taken during a partial solar eclipse in Michelau, Luxembourg, and at a beach in Ostend, Belgium. Chilean electronic musician Marcelo Díaz Soto mastered the record.

Active since February 2023, Irîs combines experimental electronic music with photography and other visual art forms. Previous releases include the vinyl album First Journey (April 2025), Land Of The Rising Sun (February 2026) and the collaborative album Amber Starforest (A Viridian Suite in 5 Movements) (July 2026), recorded with Marcelo Díaz Soto.

Ahead of the release, the artist will host an online listening party on Tuesday 1 December 2026 at 18:00 via Bandcamp.

The Earth Looked Up And Cried will be available digitally on Bandcamp from Friday, with distribution to streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer and YouTube. Vinyl, CD and cassette editions will also be available on demand. The digital and CD editions will include four bonus tracks.

Further information about the album and digital pre-orders is available here.