Blond:ish

Blond:ish now serves as the solo outlet for Montreal-born DJ and producer Vivie-Ann Bakos, whose sleek, luminous tech-house productions often emphasize vocals and shift between introspection, nostalgia, and a gentle psychedelic haze. Originally a partnership with fellow DJ and producer Anstascia D'Elene Corniere, the project issued its first album, Welcome to the Present, on Kompakt in 2015. Since Corniere’s departure in 2019, Bakos has issued singles such as the 2021 collaboration “Waves” with Grace Tither, 2022’s “Tra Tra” alongside Hugel and Nfasis, and a 2023 reinterpretation of Madonna’s “Sorry” that incorporates the singer’s pitched-down vocals.

The project’s roots trace to 2007, when Bakos and Corniere crossed paths at Miami’s Winter Music Conference. They promptly launched a weekly event also called Blond:ish at Montreal’s Cherry Nightclub and began releasing music under that name the following year. Momentum built after their 2010 move to London; by 2012 they had placed EPs on Kompakt and Get Physical Music while supplying remixes for Pete Tong and Tomas Barfod. Further EPs and remixes for Kate Simko and Maya Jane Coles followed in 2013. In 2014 the duo handled the second disc of Flying Ibiza, Vol. 1 (Audiofly having mixed the first) and reworked Depeche Mode’s “Should Be Higher.”

Issued on Kompakt in 2015, Welcome to the Present departed from conventional club fare by exploring atmospheric downtempo territory whose dreamier passages recalled the Orb at its most hallucinatory. After Corniere stepped away in 2019 to focus on independent work, Bakos retained the Blond:ish name and continued releasing music, including the house-leaning “Waves” in 2021 and “Tra Tra” the next year.