Matías Roden Honors Survival and Sorrow on “Angels in the Night”

Vancouver-based pop artist Matías Roden returns with one of his most intimate and powerful releases to date. His new single, “Angels in the Night,” is a haunting, emotionally charged ballad inspired by a close friend’s survival of the 2017 terror attack on London Bridge. In this stripped-back yet cinematic song, Roden doesn’t just tell a story—he builds a space for reflection, grief, survival, and healing. Part tribute, part love letter to London, it’s a deeply moving moment in pop music that lingers long after the final note.

Written after hearing the firsthand account of a friend who narrowly escaped the horrific events of that night, Roden transforms trauma into music without glossing over its emotional complexity. “I wanted to create something that recognized the gravity and trauma of what happened, but was also uplifting – a tribute to the strength to carry onwards. It makes me feel emotional every time I hear it, because I know the story behind it. It’s sad and melancholic, but also uplifting. That duality is what makes it feel honest to me,” says Roden.

The tension between sorrow and hope defines the very core of “Angels in the Night.” It’s a song that carries the emotional weight of its subject matter while resisting sentimentality. Produced by acclaimed Canadian artist Louise Burns, the track leans into a sparse yet powerful arrangement. Soaring vocals rise above minimal, 90s-inspired instrumentation—drawing influence from the unvarnished vulnerability of Sinéad O’Connor and the crystalline honesty of SOPHIE’s “It’s Okay to Cry.” The result is a pop ballad that feels timeless in its emotional clarity.

Rather than dramatizing the events, Roden centers the human element—the surreal randomness of survival, the guilt and gratitude that coexist in its aftermath, and the ripple effects of collective trauma. “Angels in the Night” doesn’t just tell a story; it invites the listener to sit with it, to feel through it. It’s in that emotional stillness that Roden’s voice becomes most powerful—not just vocally, but emotionally. His delivery is at once fragile and defiant, shaped by his signature ability to turn personal experience into universal resonance.

Born in the UK, raised in Peru, and now based in Vancouver, Matías Roden brings a global sensibility to his work. He fuses elements of synth-pop, soul, and power balladry into emotionally driven compositions that explore themes of identity, queerness, connection, and healing. Roden’s music is not made for background listening—it demands presence. It asks the listener to engage, to feel, and to reflect.

“Angels in the Night” follows the momentum of Roden’s debut EP, The Plea, released in early 2024. The EP, anchored by the standout single “Close Your Eyes,” earned Roden acclaim from CBC and attention across the underground queer pop scenes in both North and South America. With each new release, he further establishes himself as an artist unafraid to wade into emotionally difficult territory in search of something real—and ultimately, redemptive.

Where much of today’s pop music might shy away from complex narratives of trauma and survival, Roden steps in with a unique kind of bravery. “Angels in the Night” is a quiet force—unflinching in its honesty, cinematic in its structure, and moving in its restraint. It offers no easy answers, but it does offer something rare: a space to feel both broken and whole, afraid and courageous, alone and deeply connected.

With a full-length debut album scheduled for late summer 2025 and Louise Burns once again at the helm as producer, Roden is poised to expand his already growing impact. If “Angels in the Night” is any indication, it will be a project marked by raw emotional intelligence and sonic elegance.

In a world often too loud to hear its own grief, Matías Roden has created a song that listens—and in doing so, helps us all feel a little less alone.