Abstract Electronic UK #2
Abstract Electronic UK #2 Part 2 of my monthly dive into contemporary experimental electronic practices within the UK, artists producing at the intersections between post-ambient and power-ambient composition, electroacoustic methodologies, and the frameworks of deconstructed club. These works explore timbre and texture as forefront compositional components and demonstrate advanced approaches to sound design and signal processing. Non-linear form, wonky rhythms, and process-driven compositional systems take precedence over traditional structures/form, rhythmic or harmonic progression. 21st-century work that draws from the spectral, noise, and post-industrial lineages of the 20th century. This approach to composition is shaped by an informal pedagogy transmitted through technology, online channels, production techniques and club contextualisation rather than through formal institutional structures or genre formulae. 1. BJ Holy: ‘Earth Sign’ BJ Holy is a multidisciplinary artist who seamlessly switches between roles: composer, producer, and instrumentalist. He effortlessly combines elements from electroacoustic, avant-club, ambient, and folk styles, performing live vocals, flugelhorn, and guitar alongside electronics. ‘Earth Sign’ (track nine from his debut album ‘Broken Horns’) offers just a snapshot of the record’s range. A structure built around an evolving motif alongside a patient build of texture that leaves you suspended, waiting for all the elements to converge (the drop), and for the full weight to be realised. With guest vocals from Charlotte Mandell, the pair move in call and response, their voices (at parts) intersecting in atmospheric bliss. Both vocalists recite abstract poetic musings, including fragments reprised from track three of the project ‘Clean Slate’: – “It’s my clean slate, perfect hideaway.” – “It’s my earth sign, it’s my third try.” Colliding fragments dissolve into one lingering question: What’s your Earth Sign? 2. Damsel Elysium: ‘Shoreline – Alex Faingold Rework’ ‘Shoreline’ is a cut from the London-based experimental sound artist’s 2024 EP ‘Whispers and Speaking’. Known for their multi-faceted practice, particularly their integration of strings, voice, electronics, and site-specific field recordings. Elysium weaves a textural composition that blurs the line between environment and instrument, grounded in their practice as an established cellist. Faint vocals like a siren song, electronic murmurs, and processed cello texture quietly bubble and recede. Tectonic audio plates shift beneath the surface, creating subtle drama. Saturated rhythmic stutters gradually move to the foreground, later swept away by sounds of the ocean. You’re taken on a real journey, like traversing a desolate landscape. Both Elysium and Faingold were in the short-lived band ‘Maine’. The release of their only album, ‘Barbary’ in 2023, strongly embodied my taste at the time, and I would still highly recommend it. It’s great to hear another collaboration from them, even in a different form. 3. MOBBS and Susu Laroche: ‘AXE’ Susu Laroche, one half of the currently inactive duo ‘The Fertile Crescent’ (with producer Oxhy), continues to carry the torch of a distinctly ritualistic strain of post-industrial in this collaboration with MOBBS. The ZEPO EP landed on Modern Love, a fitting home given the label’s history of atmosphere-driven releases from Demdike Stare and Andy Stott. ‘AXE’ is evocative, built on a driving, almost processional rhythm that thuds like distant war drums across the cavernous mix. Laroche’s vocals sit front and centre, layered chants upon a bed of vocal texture that sound plucked from antiquity. It feels less like a song and more like a rite, folkloric, a call to return to the primordial soup. 4. Myriad Myriads: ‘Fifth Shard’ Susu Laroche, one half of the currently inactive duo ‘The Fertile Crescent’ (with producer Oxhy), continues to carry the torch of a distinctly ritualistic strain of post-industrial in this collaboration with MOBBS. The ZEPO EP landed on Modern Love, a fitting home given the label’s history of atmosphere-driven releases from Demdike Stare and Andy Stott. ‘AXE’ is evocative, built on a driving, almost processional rhythm that thuds like distant war drums across the cavernous mix. Laroche’s vocals sit front and centre, layered chants upon a bed of vocal texture that sound plucked from antiquity. It feels less like a song and more like a rite, folkloric, a call to return to the primordial soup. People’s Playlist by Eli Callingham {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }} You Might Also Like Recent Posts
IN CONVERSATION WITH WOUNDER
IN CONVERSATION WITH WOUNDER ARTIST PLAYLIST By Eli Callingham 21 February 2026 Introduce yourself. I’m Sonny, I write and record under the name ‘Wounder’. I’ve been making music a very long time – 10 years. Been using this name the last two years for more metal-adjacent stuff. How was the show tonight? The show was cathartic as fuck I cant lie. Life’s been annoying recently and this was a really good outlet. It was one of them ones where you kinda go into it and you’re just like expecting it to be fucking hell to be that vulnerable but no, I got a lot out of it. It was nourishing for sure. How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before? I kinda grew up on UK Bass music my whole life. Both my parents were into Drum & Bass in the 90s, I was raised on that from a very young age and I think for me the main point in my music at the moment is combining that – growing up on metal music and bass music. It’s kind of finding that – this sounds really wanky – but just finding a bit of catharsis in obnoxiously loud bass lines and combining that with the scream. For me that’s a way I can kind of get shit off my chest. Big bass, fucking screaming, guitars and shit. It’s a weird mix of genres and it’s cathartic to me, and hopefully it will be to whoever listens to it. [Later over voice note he clarified this idea more] “The main crux of it was sort of like, we use it [bass] in a very functional way. It’s supposed to get people moving, which I love, but there’s often nothing emotional about its use. It can be very clinical, and just serves this one purpose. From a young age, in the same way that I’d find listening to metal music cathartic, I found a fat banger will achieve a similar form of catharsis. You know if you’re having a bad day and you need to fucking shed something, I always found that music was quite good for it. You know the whole sound spectrum, it’s the range that drives the most force, and that can be harnessed emotionally. I think sometimes the violence of hard bass can actually do a lot for the soul and for release.” What inspires you? Some days it will just be like “I gotta get something off my chest” and there’s no sonic reference, it’s purely instinctual. But at the same time, sometimes it will just be that I hear a piece of music and I’m like “I gotta offer something to the world that’s similar to this”. It’s a really big mix but I’d just say like living in general, just consuming music, experiencing things. Music to me is just an outlet, a way to get things out.something, I always found that music was quite good for it. You know the whole sound spectrum, it’s the range that drives the most force, and that can be harnessed emotionally. I think sometimes the violence of hard bass can actually do a lot for the soul and for release.” Are there any underground artists you’ve been listening to? I got three actually. The first one is a more local person, 300SkullsAndCounting. He’s in this band Mitsubishi Suicide as well, he’s fucking amazing. I love his shit. He’s got his own lane, he’s doing something incredibly unique and it’s worth checking out. There’s a black metal artist I’ve been really enjoying called Volahn. He released an album called Popol Vuh last year and to me that’s like the most horrifying metal music I’ve ever heard. It’s like if you put a cosmic horror story into sound, it’s just terrifying. I want to shout out this album called Handwriting by Khonnor. It’s from like 2004, you might need to fact check that [FACT CHECK: it is]. I think if you look at a lot of the twee, indie electronica that’s really picking up motion now, you can really find a starting point in this guy’s music. Are there any gig venues, spaces or event series you’re excited about at the moment? I’m very excited about this one gallery in Haggerston called Final Hot Desert. In 2023 we did a show together. It was for a really good artist called John Knight. It was a homage to how he grew up in the Cincinnati hardcore scene and he was bringing different materials he would see in those venues. I played there at the private view and that was still my favourite gig I’ve ever done. I’m not even an art guy, I like music above all art forms because of the accessibility and no matter who you are, no matter what education you’ve had, the privilege of, if you hear something raw you’re just going to connect to it and that’s something that other art forms can’t really achieve. But I will say that at Final Hot Desert there is a baseline you can always connect with, even for someone like me who doesn’t have the context of reading a bunch of smart people books. What’s a song everyone should add to their playlist? The Myth Arc by The Body. The Body are one of my all time biggest inspos, so much of my sound I owe to listening to their shit since I was a kid. That song specifically, that’s so inspiring to me. It’s just a really good fucking juxtapositon of abrasive texture and really gut wrenching female vocals and melody – it’s just a perfect mix of the macho noisy side but it’s also got a real feminine touch to it. I’m not a big fan of overly macho metal music. Any final words of wisdom? Something that helped me was detaching my ego from what I do and not seeing good music as a way to validate yourself. I think
FRIEND CRUSH CURATED BY LAUREN AUDER // WOUNDER REVIEW
FRIEND CRUSH CURATED BY LAUREN AUDER // WOUNDER REVIEW TNAM.UK By Eli Callingham 21 February 2026 On Monday 26th January, somewhat of a dreary night, I made my way to East London’s Shacklewell Arms for a ‘Friend Crush’ event programmed by Lauren Auder. An eclectic lineup featuring performances by Wounder, Jennifer Walton and Lauren Auder herself, who played new material that was due to be released on that Friday [praxis out now]. ‘Wounder’ is the alias of Sonny Holland, London based artist and producer, and purveyor of heavy music who has cemented himself in the broad underground scene over the last few years by playing at a number of event series for those in the know (BalaX, Borough, Genesys and Trauma Unit), recording and playing his own music as well as producing for others. He has previously released music under ‘crimson//chaos’ (RIP). With Wounder, Sonny sits comfortably in both the electronic and metal worlds, fusing heavy basslines, detailed sound design and walls of distorted guitars with fry scream vocals, and choppy vocal processing. Working adjacent to ‘post-club’ while channeling a distinctly post-genre sensibility, he plays with established conventions while reshaping them into something distinctly his own. Through both our conversation and his output you can tell he has eclectic taste, something that’s also evident in his collaborations. His latest album, ‘Builder’, released through Final Hot Desert in August 2025, features notable collaborations with Australian producer Sus1er, a figure known for his work across rap and dance styles, and London based underground veteran Felix Lee, both known for their genre-bending approaches. He plays in the latter’s live band contributing live electronics. Great performance clips found [HERE]. Audio of which is found [HERE]. At Friend Crush, he performed a stripped back thirty-minute set. His equipment, an assortment of devices – a sampler, pedals, MIDI keyboard and laptop organised on a table to the left of the stage which was also used to lean against in moments of respite. He seemed as comfortable with this setup as he is with a live band. He navigated the set’s dense material with ease, the highlights being ‘I Never Said That I Didn’t Mean It’ and ‘Tell Him I Too Have Known’. Abrasive, tremolo-picked guitar tones punctuated the set, interspersed with texturally juxtaposed synths and pads that were more prominent in the live mix, than on the released material. The bass cut through and remained as a constant yet welcome onslaught – my only gripe was not experiencing it on a larger sound system. The tracklist tastefully alternated between blast beats and electronic drums. An ebb and flow from the more frantic to morose cuts. The audience’s response reflected this mix of styles: both head-banging and bobbing, moves associated with the two genres. The black metal influence and stylisation on his work is undeniable – throughout his instagram feed and previous shows he’s seen sporting corpse paint and using the titular vocal fry common to the genre, but what I found with this live show was a performance style more confrontational and synonymous with noise artists. As reference, this Prurient performance comes to mind. It was an incredibly animated performance, an embodied practice that included him collapsing on the ground, beating his chest, leaping off the stage and contorting his frame. He acted as a vessel for the music, with the same cathartic release as a noise performance but with more grace and less violent movement. It allowed the audience to feel comfortable enough to draw close and enclose him in a circle. As the show concluded parts of the mic stand lay scattered across the floor. No mic stand is safe – he corroborated that is a common occurrence at his shows. He quietly and calmly packed up his equipment, pedals, and power supply in a black duffel rucksack and adjourned for a quiet cigarette outside of the venue. After his performance he kindly gave some of his time for this interview [Click Here]. You Might Also Like Recent Posts
Songs from South Africa
Songs from South Africa Staff picks of some of the best new music and artists living in or from South Africa. People’s Playlist by Caitlin Taylor {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }} You Might Also Like Recent Posts
Alt+Electronic UK #2
Alt+Electronic UK #2 A snapshot of contemporary UK-based artists working at the crossover of alternative and electronic music, not quite one or the other. Artists influenced by post-internet culture, bedroom production/DIY aesthetics, and the cross-pollination between pop, electronic, and art-music worlds. People’s Playlist by Eli Callingham {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }} You Might Also Like Recent Posts
The Sounds of UK Underground Rap #2
The Sounds of UK Underground Rap #2 Rap Part 2 of a monthly TNAM series exploring the current sounds and sub-genres of UK rap music: Jerk, Rage, Cloud Rap and ‘UK Underground’. The “underground” in the title refers to both the status of the artist across multiple UK rap styles and to the emerging UK underground sub-genre spearheaded by artists such as Fakemink, Feng, and Jim Lxgacy. This series functions as a curated snapshot, a macroscopic view of standout tracks shaping the current moment. Since the last mix, the UK Underground scene has rapidly approached mainstream visibility, rendering the label ‘underground’ almost antithetical. Masked rapper EsDeeKid, in particular, has reached new levels of notoriety. At the time of writing, he ranks among Spotify’s most-streamed rappers, globally, bolstered by industry co-signs and a now put to rest online conspiracy claiming his true identity to be actor Timothée Chalamet. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Timothée Chalamet (@tchalamet) EsDeeKid’s rise feels inseparable from both his Scouse accent and the sleek, futuristic production of the ‘PHANTOM AUDIO’ collective (more on them later). His success highlights the importance of regional accents in rap music and underscores the need for broader mainstream representation of differing vocal identities in the UK. American rap has long embraced regional variation as a strength, so why not the UK? PHANTOM AUDIO operates with deliberate opacity. For producers Wraith9 and Lancer, anonymity is inseparable from the project’s aesthetic, even as both maintain visible stakes across a broader creative network, including the brand ‘No Fear’ and ‘Virus London’ events. Wraith, in particular, obscures his face with an array of head coverings across visuals and live appearances, reinforcing the collective’s spectral branding. Both producers’ solo releases prove just as compelling as their collaborative production work. Standout tracks, and words on which below: 1. Lancer: White Stag I came to Lancer’s ‘White Stag’ before registering his affiliations, which in hindsight the sonic connection is unmistakable. His solo releases pull from alternative, footwork, and modern rap styles, resisting easy categorisation. On White Stag, Lancer is personal, vulnerable, and introspective. He talks about a misalignment in a relationship and in action, frozen like a deer in headlights, yet whipping through red lights. Where Jerk production defined much of Summer 2025, with LV Sandals by EsDeeKid, Rico Ace and Fakemink emerging as a defining anthem of the UK underground. White Stag demonstrates the breadth of PHANTOM AUDIO’s sonic palette. A glassy, rompler-style digital piano anchors the track, invoking the spirit of pluggnb’s melodic haze, while skittering percussion draws from footwork’s restless rhythmic language. Interjections of vocal samples act like call and response and play off Lancer’s musings. – “Slackjawed lost my keys on the 202, why the fuck am I in Blackheath?” As a South London native, I was often dragged here, I can relate. It speaks to the anguish in my heart. 2. Jaxzun: oneofone interlude Little information is known so far about rapper Jaxzun, including where he is based. According to Genius, his debut track, ‘Speakerz’, appeared in May 2025. Yet from his output, he doesn’t sound like a novice. Much like earlier algorithmic finds such as TheAdult and LedByHer, his music appeared unprompted and demanded attention. Instagram Reels remains an unexpectedly fertile space for discovery, even through the noise of endless “reels music.” His listener base has grown rapidly, reportedly surpassing 20,000 streams within a week of this track’s release. The discourse surrounding Jaxzun online is intriguing: equal parts admiration and confusion, with listeners debating possible influences and production techniques. Is it Sstepteam? Does he use tremolo, ring modulation, or sidechaining? What is clear, however, is that he produces his own material. On ‘oneofone interlude’, the sonic palette is unstable; the 808 erodes the instrumental around his voice, collapsing the sense of spatial depth as he explains why he is “oneofone.” As we move into 2026, I think he is an artist we should all keep an eye on. 3. Trellion: Fresh Paint In a conversation about under-rated UK rappers I was reminded of Trellion, the Sheffield rapper whose work occupies a singular space within UK Hip Hop. Active since the mid 2000s and closely affiliated with cult label ‘Blah Records’, co-run by Lee Scott, Trellion has long operated outside mainstream visibility, despite reported collaborations with heavyweight producer ‘The Alchemist’. His sound and approach feel increasingly rare in today’s landscape: ‘boom-bap’ built on skillful sampling and steeped in moody atmosphere. Online discussions about Trellion hold a mythic quality. The r/ukhiphopheads thread ‘Anybody know what happened to Trellion?’ had users speculating about his disappearance during a lengthy absence from solo releases, with rumours placing him either working or running an Italian restaurant somewhere in Sheffield. After roughly a decade without a solo project, Trellion resurfaced in 2025 with a trio of releases, Ok, the fire, Big Sur and The Man Who Couldn’t Die, reasserting a presence that never faded among devoted listeners. ‘Fresh Paint’ exemplifies his return. Built around a dust-covered piano sample reminiscent of a vintage horror soundtrack, the sparse production leaves deliberate space for Trellion’s laid-back delivery and introspective bars. Themes of renewal, identity and surreal rebirth run throughout: 4. LONESTAR: PERFECT TIMING ‘PERFECT TIMING’ is a single from West London rapper LONESTAR’s upcoming January album, ‘LIFE IN COLOUR’. A release he told me to watch out for when I interviewed him with Sleepy C after their performance at Antivision Vol 3 in November. Rooted in the UK rage sound, with hard-hitting, confrontational production, LONESTAR nonchalantly raps about his position in the scene, a mix of braggadocious musing and vulnerability: “I was never meant to get this far. I am an anomaly”. He also keeps the mood light with quips like “sending that boy back to the lobby”. The LONESTAR and SleepyC Interview. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The UK Playlist Collective (@tnam.uk) People’s Playlist by Eli Callingham {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }}
Alt+Electronic UK
Alt+Electronic UK (01/26) A snapshot of contemporary UK-based artists working at the crossover of alternative and electronic music, not quite one or the other. Artists influenced by post-internet culture, bedroom production/DIY aesthetics, and the cross-pollination between pop, electronic, and art-music worlds. People’s Playlist by Eli Callingham {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }} You Might Also Like Recent Posts
Avant-Club UK
Avant-Club UK Club,Electronic,Hyperpop,Industrial An introduction to contemporary electronic artists working within the UK and around the frameworks/aesthetics of deconstructed club (Ship Sket), glitch (Two Shell), hyperpop (BABii), UK bass (Mun Sing), and industrial-wave (Rat Section). ‘deconstructed club’ (sometimes referred to as ‘post-club’) emerged in the early 2010s and is often traced back to the New York-based GHE20G0TH1K club nights. An early major platform, these nights brought together artists and DJs from diverse musical backgrounds, foregrounding experimental, hybrid, and post-digital approaches to club music. Deconstructed club is not a rejection of club aesthetics but a subversion of them, working with the core logic of club music (intensity, structure, rhythm, and repetition) and refashioning these elements to create something innovative and transgressive. Strongly connected to LGBTQ+ communities and queer club culture, deconstructed club developed with an emphasis on identity and experimentation and a resistance to homogeneous or normative procedures. Since its emergence, these ideas have expanded beyond a specific scene or group of artists and now function as an inspiring ethos, one that prioritises process, hybridity, and shared production methods over stylistic consistency. The artists collected here reflect this ethos. While their sounds differ, they share an approach shaped by an informal online pedagogy, post-digital production techniques, and an artistic milieu that values eclectic influence and experimentation. In this sense, this playlist and artists included sit closely alongside those in my Abstract Electronic UK series. My method of compilation is also similar, tracing a loose but connected network of current artists and their corresponding influences from different movements rather than a typical genre-based playlist. My introduction to this ethos mirrors many others: a deep interest in computer music and the sound design of Arca, as well as spending hours scouring forums such as MOD WIGGLER, the depths of Youtube, and subreddits such as r/organicsignals. Discovering projects like XYZ (Iglooghost, Kai Whiston, BABii) in 2020 and Lux Cache in 2021 introduced me to a wider network of producers and a shared approach to sound, where process, texture, and digital experimentation are at the forefront. This appealed to what at the time felt like conflicting musical influences/interests. People’s Playlist by Eli Callingham {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }} You Might Also Like Recent Posts
Abstract Electronic UK
Abstract Electronic UK An introduction to the contemporary experimental electronic practices within the UK, artists producing at the intersections between post-ambient and power-ambient composition, electroacoustic methodologies, and the frameworks of deconstructed club (Lanark Artefax). These works explore timbre and texture as forefront compositional components (Flora Yin-Wong) and demonstrate advanced approaches to sound design and signal processing. Non-linear form and process-driven compositional systems (Roly Porter) take precedence over traditional structures/form, rhythmic or harmonic progression. 21st century work that draws from the spectral (Joshua Sabin), noise (Emptyset), and post-industrial (Drew McDowall) lineages of the 20th century. This approach to composition is shaped by an informal pedagogy transmitted through technology, online channels, production techniques and club contextualisation rather than through formal institutional structures or genre formulae. The studio as an instrument. Pt 1. People’s Playlist by Eli Callingham Ambient,Electronic,Experimental {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }} You Might Also Like Recent Posts
UK dark wave? <3
UK dark wave? <3 Yes yes yes yes yes. Songs that sound like they were made in caves. People’s Playlist by Isla Mcrobie Alternative,Dark Wave,Electro Pop,Electronic {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }} You Might Also Like Recent Posts