EKHO Sonic Chill #16

Massive Attack. Out of Bristol's Wild Bunch sound-system scene in 1988, with Robert '3D' Del Naja and Grant 'Daddy G' Marshall. 'Angel' opens Mezzanine (Circa/Virgin, 1998). It was the third single, out July 13th, 1998, and hit No. 30 in the UK, with Horace Andy singing. It's partly based on Andy's own earlier song 'You Are My Angel', and he shares the writing credit with 3D, Daddy G and Mushroom. The Walter Stern video went unseen until the Eleven Promos DVD in 2001. The song's on the soundtrack of Guy Ritchie's Snatch (2000). And on April 16th, 2026 they put out 'Boots on the Ground' with Tom Waits (Play It Again Sam).

BINA. Out of South London. Indie-soul and alt-pop singer-songwriter, and she calls her sound 'soft rage'. 'Self Assured' is off her third EP, Chaos Is Her Name (2024), seven tracks blending jazz, indie and alt-pop. She's opened for Little Simz on a European tour, and she was a 2025 grantee of the Will Smith Emerging Artist Fund (The Supporting Act Foundation). Her mixtape SOFT RAGE is due November 6th, 2026, with the singles 'Zombies' and 'The Art of Anger'.

Vök. Icelandic dream pop out of Reykjavík, formed in January 2013 by singer Margrét Rán Magnúsdóttir and saxophonist Andri Enoksson. 'Floating' is track 5 on their debut album, Figure (Nettwerk / Record Records, April 28th, 2017), made with producer Brett Cox, who's worked with Jack Garratt. The band calls it the darkest song on the album. First draft was in Margrét's summerhouse, then they forgot about it until Andri revived it about two years later. Their latest album is the self-titled Vök (September 23rd, 2022).

40 Winks. Instrumental hip-hop out of Belgium, the duo of Padmo' and Weedy. They met in the late '90s and started DJing together, and their early beats sampled bossa nova, sax riffs and dusty jazz records. Albums include The Lucid Effect (2008) on Project: Mooncircle and It's The Trip (2011). 'We're Flying' is track 2 on Field Recordings (Project: Mooncircle, September 3rd, 2021), their first album in ten years. It's made partly from sounds caught on the road with their favourite Tascam, plus live piano, xylophone, guitar and flute. Why the gap? Weedy told XLR8R they both had kids and free time became an issue.

Herbert & Momoko. That's Matthew Herbert with South London drummer and vocalist Momoko Gill. 'More And More' is track 4 on Clay (Strut, June 27th, 2025), between 'Mowing' and 'Heart'. Since then Momoko Gill put out her debut solo album, Momoko (Strut, February 13th, 2026). She produced it herself, recorded it at Total Refreshment Centre and had Herbert mix it. Self-taught on drums, raised in Japan, based in London.

Azamiah. Jazz and nu-soul from the southside of Glasgow, led by singer India Blue, now split between Glasgow and London. 'Celesta' is track 2 on their debut album, In Phases (Rebecca's Records, June 16th, 2023): India Blue on vocals, Josef Akin on keys, Norman Villeroux on bass and ocarina, Alex Palmer on drums, Romy Wymer on harp. India Blue produced it. It mixes neo-soul, Latin American rhythm and choral sounds, and The Skinny gave it five stars. The EP Two Lands followed in 2025. Now they're signed to Edition Records, with a second album due in early 2027.

Phantom Youth. Dream pop and shoegaze out of Munich, Germany, with Bandcamp tags running from jangle pop to lo-fi pop. Their first releases came out in August 2022, 'Country Roads' and 'All Your Light', then 'Promises' (January 2023) and 'Slide Back' (Spirit Goth Records, September 1st, 2023). 'Dreams, etc.' is track 4 of 10 on their self-titled album (Spirit Goth Records, June 7th, 2024). Spirit Goth calls itself a DIY label for dream pop, bedroom pop, post-punk and shoegaze. A second album, This Sacred Place, followed on March 7th, 2025, and in September 2026 they put out a single, 'Faye's Out', with the band Stray Fossa.

Moon Idle. A band out of Brighton, making trip hop. Their EP was Kindly, and 'Greatest' is off their album Stella Circus.

Hysterical Love Project. Their album Lashes, written and produced by Ike Zwanikken and Brooklyn Mellar, came out on Motion Ward in 2023. 'Myopia For Kindness' is off February's Album, out on Motion Ward in October 2026.

Goya Gumbani. Brooklyn-born, Southeast London artist. 'Shouldn't Be' is off his EP Bean Pie, five tracks, with Joe Armon-Jones featured on it. His 2025 album was Warlord of the Weejuns.

Ex:Re is Elena Tonra, the singer and songwriter of Daughter. In Ex:Re she plays guitar too. 'Save As' is the title track of her second Ex:Re album, out on 4AD on October 30th, 2026. The self-titled first one came out on November 30th, 2018, also on 4AD. Fabian Prynn produced Save As.

Swae Lee and his brother Slim Jxmmi are Rae Sremmurd. He and Post Malone had a number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with 'Sunflower', from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack. 'MURAL' is track 5 on SAME DIFFERENCE, out April 3rd, 2026 on Eardruma Records and Interscope. Jhené Aiko is on it. It runs 3:26.

Cujo is Amon Tobin, who also composed the soundtrack for the video game Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. His first album, Adventures in Foam, came out in 1996 under the name Cujo. In 2019 he announced the first new Cujo music in 23 years. 'Beats of Eden' is off Paranova, the second Cujo album, out on Nomark on October 2nd, 2026.

Bonobo. That's Simon Green, the English producer who came up in Brighton and now lives in Los Angeles. 'Youth's Fountain' is track 8 on Distance In Static (Ninja Tune, September 11th, 2026), featuring singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya. The album was recorded across Los Angeles, Tokyo and London, and a big part was finished at Neil Young's Broken Arrow Ranch in California. Guests include Arooj Aftab, Joy Crookes, Ichiko Aoba, Nicole Miglis of Hundred Waters and Aanya Martin. Green has said it's probably his last album in this format, which comes with a multi-year live-band world tour.

The Colours That Rise. London production duo, multi-instrumentalists Simeon Jones and Nathanael Williams. After their 2017 EP '2020', they joined Rhythm Section International with the single 'Home Time' (December 2019), with drummer Yussef Dayes and guitarist Mansur Brown. Their debut album, Grey Doubt (May 1st, 2020), is 15 tracks of live playing and analogue synths, with guests Yussef Dayes, Andrew Ashong and Yazmin Lacey. 'Atmosphere' is track 11. They call it an audio documentary about 'a secret history, or what some people might call a conspiracy theory.' In their words, they're 'just two guys with a broken tape machine.' Yazmin Lacey is based in Nottingham and came up through Gilles Peterson's Future Bubblers program. Her debut album Voice Notes came out in 2023, then Teal Dreams (October 24th, 2025).

Night Tapes. Dream-pop trio out of London: Estonian singer Iiris Vesik with Max Doohan on drums and Sam Richards on guitar. Vesik is from Tallinn and had a solo career in Estonia before moving to London. The three started out jamming in a shared house in South London in 2019. 'Perfect Kindness' is the title track of their third EP (Nettwerk, 2023), six tracks that also carried 'Selene' and 'Inigo'. Since then: the EP assisted memories (2024) and their debut album, portals//polarities (Nettwerk, September 26th, 2025).

Tamaryn. Tamaryn Sitha Brown, born in New Zealand in 1982, based in Los Angeles. She started out making shoegaze with guitarist Rex John Shelverton (The Waves, 2010; Tender New Signs, 2012, both on Mexican Summer). Cranekiss was made at Gary's Electric in Brooklyn with Jorge Elbrecht and Shaun Durkan of Weekend, and it's the record where her voice moved up front. 'Keep Calling' is track 5 on Cranekiss (Mexican Summer, August 28th, 2015). In 2014 she and Drew McDowall scored 'Are You Okay', a short film written by Bret Easton Ellis, starring Dee Dee Penny and Shiloh Fernandez. She's also a songwriter on Sky Ferreira's 2019 single 'Downhill Lullaby'. Latest album: Dreaming the Dark (Dero Arcade, 2019).

Acopia. Trio out of Naarm/Melbourne, Australia: Kate Durman, Lachlan McGeehan and Morgan Wright, together since 2018. Restrained, atmospheric dream pop with trip-hop shadows and minimalist electronics. 'See You in Everyone' is track 2 on Blush Response, their third album in three years, out September 12th, 2025 on London's Scenic Route. Kate Durman told The FADER it's her favorite to play live, because it's more challenging for her to sing than the others.

You'll Never Get to Heaven. Dream-pop duo out of London, Ontario: Alice Hansen and Chuck Blazevic. 'Caught in Time, So Far Away' opens Adorn, five songs out March 11th, 2014, on their own Mystic Roses label. Adorn also has their take on Erik Satie's 'Berceuse' from Enfantillages pittoresques. Their fourth album, Wave Your Moonlight Hat for the Snowfall Train, followed in 2021.

Ethel Cain is the project of Hayden Anhedönia. Her 2022 debut, Preacher's Daughter, made her name, and Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You (Daughters of Cain, August 8th, 2025) is its prequel. 'Dust Bowl' is track 6 on that one, 6:26 long. Before it was released, she played it live many times and chose it to open her shows.

Hardkandy. Began in Brighton as a duo: producer Tim Bidwell and keyboardist Simon Little. 'Moonlight' is off their debut, How Do You Do Nothing? (Catskills Records, 2002), a warm, soulful downtempo record, and that year they played the Big Chill festival with a ten-piece band. Little went on to play keys in Bonobo's live band. Bidwell made Last To Leave (Catskills, 2006), with guests including Quantic and the Chicago soul-folk singer Terry Callier, then Second To None (Wah Wah 45s, 2008).

Télépopmusik. French electronic trio: Fabrice Dumont, Stephan Haeri and Christophe Hetier. 'Don't Look Back' is off their second album, Angel Milk (Capitol, June 21st, 2005), and was its second single. It's sung by Scottish singer Angela McCluskey, the same voice as their Grammy-nominated 'Breathe', which Mitsubishi used in an ad. Drowned in Sound said this song sets the album's tone, her smoky voice over orchestral swells and broken-up electronics. Their third album, Everybody Breaks the Line, came out in 2020.

Broken Social Scene. Sprawling collective out of Toronto, founded by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, and an incubator for Feist, Emily Haines (Metric) and Stars. 'Hotel' is track 9 of their third, self-titled album (Arts & Crafts, October 2005), produced by David Newfeld. The album won the 2006 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year and made the shortlist of the inaugural Polaris Music Prize. Their album Remember the Humans came out May 8th, 2026.

Andrew Ashong. British-Ghanaian soul singer-songwriter, DJ and producer out of Forest Hill, South London, who was DJing and making his own productions by 16. His first release was 'Flowers' (2012) with Theo Parrish, on Parrish's Detroit label Sound Signature. A left-field club hit, and it was named Track of the Year at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards. 'Special' is the six-minute title track of a languid, jazz-tinged three-track EP he put out on Which Way Records in January 2014. He and his friend Alex Fairman did the artwork and sleeves themselves, from the design to the paper. In 2020 he made the Sankofa Season EP with Kaidi Tatham, born from a chance DJ set in Belfast.

Young Prisms. Shoegaze out of San Francisco: Stefanie Hodapp, Gio Betteo, Matt Allen and Jordan Silbert. Two albums on Kanine early in the 2010s, Friends for Now (2011) and In Between (2012). 'Yourside' (October 2021) was their first music in nearly a decade, and it announced their signing to Fire Talk. The band says it's written from the view of someone comforting a grieving soul after a devastating loss. It became track 2 on Drifter (March 25th, 2022), written partly during the California wildfires, produced and mixed by Shaun Durkan of Weekend and mastered by Heba Kadry. Hodapp and Betteo also put out the single 'candytrip' as bbreathrr in September 2025.

Puma Blue. That's Jacob Allen, singer, songwriter and producer. He came up in the South London music scene, went to the BRIT School, and is now based in Atlanta. Early EPs: Swum Baby (2017) and Blood Loss (2018). 'Hounds' came out as a single in September 2022 and is on his second album, Holy Waters (Blue Flowers, September 1st, 2023), made with his live band at Echo Zoo Studios in Eastbourne. He cut it live with the band, mostly in one take, with extra production from Andrew Sarlo, who's worked with Bon Iver and Big Thief. Allen wrote it around a bass line. Jak Payne's black-and-white video drew on Cocteau and Tarkovsky. Since then: antichamber (2025) and Croak Dream (February 6th, 2026, Play It Again Sam), recorded straight to tape at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios.