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Luke Abbott is anEnglishelectronic musicproducer fromNorwich,Norfolk. He records and performs extensively under his own name, under the alias Earlham Mystics, and as one-third of the electronic jazz groupSzun Waves. His work has been described as "left-field techno and kraut-infused electro" but also draws on more esoteric elements of improvisation, "psychedelic, filtered beats and slow-evolving synths".[1]
Abbott's first single, 'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B'B' was released by Output Recordings in 2006 and later that year, his 'Projections' single was released as a limited-edition 7" on Trash Aesthetics. In 2008, theTuesday EP was released onJames Holden's Border Communitylabel, beginning a long relationship spanning several releases including 2009'sWhitebox Stereo EP, 2011'sHolkham Drones and 2014'sWysing Forest.[2] The latter was created from a series of improvisations made in 2012 when Abbott was in residence atWysing Arts Centre and produced a site-specific composition which is now in the grounds of the art venue. The album "presents pristine calm washes, deeply unsettling throbs and blasts of strident noise" and can be seen as a return to the "youthful art school indoctrination" of his time studying Electroacoustic Composition at UEA inNorwich.[3][4][5]
In 2012, he also released two EPs (Object Is A Navigator andModern Driveway) onGold Panda's label, NOTOWN Recordings. Following these releases he co-produced and mixed Gold Panda's final album,Good Luck And Do Your Best in 2016.[6][7]
Translate, Abbott's first solo album in six years, was released on Border Community on 30 October 2020. The album was born out of a process of personal psychological re-evaluation and the rediscovery of Abbott's own solo music-making practice. The first single 'Kagen Sound' was released on 12 August 2020 and described by Abbott as sounding 'like a huge opening in the earth [and] like a cosmic doorway.[8] Loud And Quiet described the album as "meditative, vital, and expertly crafted electronic music".[9]
During his six-year sabbatical from solo recording, Abbott focused on mix and remix work, a new more dancefloor-directed alias Earlham Mystics and a productive new sideline in film, with two solo soundtracks to his name to date. His "evocative, atmospheric synthscapes" for filmThe Goob went on to win Abbott the award for 'Best Music' at the Stockholm Film Festival, before being released under the titleMusic For A Flat Landscape.[10][11][12]
Abbott is also one third ofSzun Waves alongside British saxophonist Jack Wyllie (Portico Quartet) and Australian drummerLaurence Pike (Triosk, PVT). Their second albumNew Hymn To Freedom was described byThe Quietus as "a beautifully crafted, exploratory piece of work".[13]
As Luke Abbott
As Earlham Mystics
WithSzun Waves
With Jack Wyllie
Remixes as Luke Abbott
Remixes as Earlham Mystics
