Leifur James

Experimental producer, composer and vocalist Leifur James announces the release of a new album ‘Magic Seeds’ on 8th November. Out today, opening track and lead single ‘Smoke in the Air’ sets the scene, spectral and hypnotic. Like many songs on ‘Magic Seeds,’ ‘Smoke In The Air’ evokes the wonder of the natural world but also the threat to it, underlined by gritty, DJ Shadow-influenced bass. James has steadily built a reputation as a vital new voice in electronic music on both sides of the Atlantic. Gaining support from the likes of Pitchfork, KCRW, BBC 6Music, NTS, Gilles Peterson, Mary Anne Hobbs, Bradley Zero and actor Cillian Murphy. His 2018 debut album ‘A Louder Silence‘ defied convention, deftly blending IDM and minimalist avant-garde influences with Nina Simone-inspired vocals and capturing heady nights at London’s long-lost and beloved club Plastic People. A remix EP followed, featuring respected leftfielders including Bruce, FaltyDL and Coby Sey.

Yet James refused to stay in one lane. ‘Wurlitzer’s’ ominous crescendo of neo-classical piano and sub-bass won acclaim at film festivals thanks to its visual by Hungarian director Balázs Simon, and then came his second, more challenging electronic full-length. 2020’s ‘Angel in Disguise’ garnered attention from the dance music world, earning praise from Mixmag, CRACK and DJ Mag, and culminating in a full performance on Boiler Room. For now, Magic Seeds illuminates James as one of those rare composers who is capable of taking listeners to great highs and plunging them into inky depths; moody and moving music that feels equally airy, as if it was composed outside, under the moon – which, he jokes, is exactly where he hopes people will listen to it. And though there are tracks that are more songs than soundscapes, he eschews formulas for musical freedom. It’s an ambitious record that could work both in open spaces and in dank clubs – as long as there is a smoke machine, of course. But more than anything, it feels as if it’s living and breathing; a sonic collage of James’s past few years whirled into one. “I think people can smell dishonesty in music pretty quickly,” he says. “I tried to be as real as possible.”