In that sense, Tender’s gripping new album, ‘Fear of Falling Asleep,’ out now is a collection of contradictions. It’s a record about isolation that fosters connection, a narrative of anxiety that offers reassurance, a chronicle of despair that promises hope. Inspired by the moments that come just before sleep, when silence descends and doubt and fear and desire take over, the album is an unflinchingly honest self-examination, a courageous reckoning with darkness and depression. Along with his musical partner Dan Cobb, Cullen captures the full range of those nightly emotional rollercoasters on the album—the consuming guilt, the crippling loneliness, the directionless drifting—bringing them to life in a seductive blend of electronic grooves, dreamy synths, and washed out guitars.