New work from Bowie designer‘s audio-visual project
London-based duo Fragile Self (Anıl Aykan and Jonathan Barnbrook) announce the release of their upcoming album ‘OCD‘, arriving on 12 May via The Deperson Society. The album, a culmination of five years of work, was recorded in London, mixed and engineered by Steve D’Agostino and Katia Isakoff, and mastered by Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios.
Ahead of the album’s release, Fragile Self unveils the lead single ‘Existence Against Existence’ on 14 February, a carefully chosen date. The track explores the psyche through the intertwined forces of obsession and compulsion, charting the relentless cycles of creation and destruction — how art is made, how love is made, and how opposites strive for an impossible unity. Set against haunting minimal bass lines and a transient voice, the single delivers an intimate and unsettling sonic experience.
As a Grammy Award-winning designer known for his work with David Bowie, Jonathan Barnbrook brings a strong visual narrative to the release, while Anıl Aykan’s visual background merges with training in Jungian Psychotherapy informs its psychological depth. ‘OCD‘ examines how memory is stored not only in the mind but within the body itself. The skin becomes a metaphor—a living record, holding emotional history and the imprints of past experiences, mirroring the fragmented self.
Accompanying the single is a film directed by Chris Turner, released the same day as the track. The film integrates the song’s lyrics through dermatographia, a condition where light scratches on the skin create temporary raised marks. This technique mirrors the track’s themes of transience and intimacy, visually reinforcing the album’s core ideas.
For more information, fragileself.com
