Mount Kimbie

British electronic group Mount Kimbie balance sonic experimentation with left-field songcraft, continually taking different approaches with every successive release. Arguably responsible for the birth of the term “post-dubstep,” their early EPs and 2010 debut full-length Crooks & Lovers feature hazy instrumentals filled with syncopated rhythms and skillfully manipulated field recordings. 2013′s Cold Spring Fault Less Youth and 2017′s Love What Survives are art-pop gems which include more live instrumentation and vocals, as well as guest appearances from James Blake, Mica Levi, and King Krule. The 2022 double-album MK 3.5: Die Cuts &124; City Planning is split between productions by either member of the duo, with Dominic Maker’s half containing pop, hip-hop, and R&B songs featuring a variety of guests, while Kai Campos’ half concentrates on foggy, abstract techno. Two additional members joined Mount Kimbie in 2023, and the group returned to making post-punk on 2024′s The Sunset Violent. Cornwall’s Kai Campos and Brighton’s Dominic Maker met while attending Southbank University in London. Producing music together at a home studio, they released two EPs, Maybes and Sketch on Glass, on the dubstep-associated label Hotflush in 2009. The two releases were among the first to be described as post-dubstep, as the tracks moved away from the typical tempos and structures of U.K. club music, incorporating more experimental production and influences such as R&B and IDM. Two remix EPs, the first including James Blake’s remix of the song “Maybes,” followed in 2010, with the duo’s full-length debut, Crooks & Lovers, arriving in July. Mount Kimbie remixed songs by several artists, including the xx, Andreya Triana, Foals, and the Big Pink. The duo frequently performed live, often transforming the material from its recorded form; the EP Blind Night Errand included a guitar-heavy version of “Maybes” recorded at Berlin club Berghain. Another EP, the remix-heavy Carbonated, appeared in 2011. Mount Kimbie signed to Warp in 2012, and began touring with Tony Kus as their live drummer. Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, their second album, appeared in 2013, with vocals handled by Campos and guest King Krule. After a remix EP, a series of NTS Radio residencies, and more touring (with Marc Pell of Micachu & the Shapes and Andrea Balency-Béarn as part of the group), Mount Kimbie released Love What Survives in 2017. The album included appearances by Blake and King Krule as well as Micachu (Mica Levi) and Balency. “Turtle Neck Man,” a non-album track with King Krule, surfaced in 2018, as well two Love What Survives Remixes EPs. A techno-heavy volume of the DJ-Kicks series, mixed by Campos but credited to Mount Kimbie and featuring the exclusive track “Southgate,” appeared on !K7. WXAXRXP Session, a four-song EP recorded live for NTS, was released in 2019. “Black Stone” and “Blue Liquid,” two songs recorded during the sessions for Love What Survives, were issued as a single in 2021. “AZD SURF,” a collaboration with Actress, appeared in early 2022. The duo’s fourth album, MK 3.5: Die Cuts &124; City Planning, was released later in the year. The first half was produced by Maker, who had moved to Los Angeles several years earlier and had worked with numerous rappers and singers, including Jay-Z, SZA, and Travis Scott. His songs on the album feature guests such as Danny Brown, slowthai, KeiyaA, and Liv.e. Campos’ half, meanwhile, is a series of atmospheric, fragmented techno pieces similar to his DJ sets and his work with Actress. A deluxe edition of City Planning appeared in 2023, including remixes by Robert Hood, DJ Stingray, Octo Octa, and others. Pell and Balency-Béarn officially joined Mount Kimbie in 2023, and their first full-band effort, 2024′s The Sunset Violent, recalled their earlier indie rock-influenced material, and featured return appearances by King Krule. ~ Paul Simpson & David Jeffries