With a stunning voice that reaches from intimate to soaring, Australian singer/songwriter Aya Larkin combines alternative sensibilities with an encyclopedic instinct of structured songwriting. Aya’s journey has taken him from his native confines of Sydney, Australia to the sun-bleached corners of Los Angeles. This transcontinental passage spans several years and a lifetime of sonic observations and lyrical wanderings, and is remarkably noted in his latest LP, Waking Dream. 

Aya Larkin’s musical pilgrimage began in 1992 fronting the legendary Sydney-based band Skunkhour. After a decade in the limelight, Aya awoke in a new-millennium Los Angeles, eager to concentrate on a more stripped-down version of his craft. His distinctive vocal range, anthemic choruses, and note-for-note perfectionism led to comparisons as diverse as Harry Nilsson, Wilco, Damien Rice, and Neil Young.  Released in June 2011, Waking Dream was produced with fellow Australian and L.A. compatriot, the mercurial Andy Clockwise and also houses a collaboration with acclaimed arranger Suzie Katayama (Bjork), and the recording of a 16-piece string section at the famed Capital Studios in Hollywood. Initial response from a brief L.A-club tour of the Waking Dream album has been nothing short of astounding. Aya’s journey; so passionately reflected on this record; paints an optimistic yet revealingly honest picture of the kind of tribulations and triumphs we can all relate to.