Anjou

Various artists tied to the Kranky Records circle gradually coalesced into the group Anjou, which delivered its opening self-titled album during 2014. Mark Nelson and Robert Donne, both previously of Labradford, joined percussionist Steven Hess to establish the threesome. Since Labradford’s understated entry into hiatus near 2001, each participant had remained busy—Nelson under the Pan American name, Donne with Cristal, and Hess alongside Fennesz, Locrian, and additional projects. Over four years the members shaped their debut’s carefully assembled fusion of acoustic and synthesized elements, layering modular synthesizers, live playing, and intricate programming into the atmospheric, ominous instrumental landscapes that defined the record. Epithymia appeared from the duo three years afterward.