Keep Shelly In Athens

Hailing from Greece, Keep Shelly in Athens—a moniker that playfully nods to Kypseli, the Athens neighborhood where the project began—fuses ambient bedroom electro-pop, chillwave, and Ibiza house influences into a distinctly melancholic strain of downtempo dream pop. RΠЯ and Sarah P. launched the boy/girl duo in 2010. Their opening EP, In Love with Dusk, appeared on Forest Family, the label founded by Gorilla vs. Bear and Weekly Tape Deck, and quickly turned into a blog sensation. The same imprint followed with the 12" EP Our Own Dream in 2011, while Sixteen Tambourines Records and Loud and Quiet Cassettes issued cassette versions that year, the latter a split with a then-unknown Disclosure. Planet Mu closed out 2011 by issuing the third vinyl EP, Campus Martius. Expanding to a four-piece configuration, the group launched international tours that included a 2012 Coachella slot and built a catalog of remixes and guest spots alongside Tycho, Porcelain Raft, and MMOTHS. Forest Family compiled the first two EPs into an LP reissue in 2012, after which the duo moved to Cascine Records for their first full-length album, At Home, which surfaced in 2013. Vocalist Sarah P. declared her exit from Keep Shelly in Athens in January 2014; Myrtha stepped in as the new singer two months later. The refreshed lineup’s debut recording, Now I’m Ready, emerged in October 2015 on the Los Angeles-based Friends of Friends label.