Joy Anonymous

Electronic dance duo Joy Anonymous forged communal bonds via vigorous studio craft and onstage energy, carrying their propulsive style to wider listeners across the 2021 release Human Again and the 2023 follow-up Cult Classics while teaming with Fred again.., the Blessed Madonna, Sugababes, and additional partners. London-based Henry Counsell and Louis Curran found themselves, along with countless fellow artists and Britons, unsettled by the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. As live dates halted, venues closed, workplaces and classrooms shifted online, and healthcare workers battled rising cases, the two resolved to contribute uplift to a beleaguered local scene. Drawing their moniker and collective ethos from Alcoholics Anonymous, they hauled keyboards and samplers to the River Thames shoreline, performing impromptu sets for any passersby. Over time, distanced audiences sought solace in the pair’s recurring outdoor gatherings. That shared experience shaped their debut album Human Again, which captured live jams and atmospheric fragments, then fed them through samplers and faders to loop and elongate the material into fresh shapes. Local guests who joined the riverside sessions, such as Afrobeats artist K4mo and Somali singer FACESOUL, also appear on the record. Following Human Again, Joy Anonymous achieved notable momentum once live shows returned across England and Europe, including Glastonbury Festival appearances in both 2022 and 2023 plus support slots for Fred again.. and U.K. hip-hop act the Streets. Their second album, the buoyant Cult Classics, surfaced in 2023 and featured further joint work with American dance producer the Blessed Madonna on “Carry Me Higher” and with Sugababes on a rendition of the group’s 2005 U.K. chart-topper “Push the Button.”