Hailing from London, the musician known professionally as Kwes.—complete with the deliberate period—crafts material that ranges across psychedelic avant-pop numbers and more ethereal ambient works. Since the late 2000s he has remained prolific as a producer, engineer, remixer, and frequent collaborator, contributing to projects by Mica Levi, Bobby Womack, Solange, Tirzah, and many additional artists. Recording under his own name for the Warp label, he has issued several EPs, the 2013 album Ilp., and the 2023 soundtrack to the romantic comedy-drama Rye Lane.
Kwes. first explored keyboards and home recording while growing up in Lewisham. Early credits include producing initial demos for the xx and forming the Kwesachu project with Micachu, also known as Mica Levi. Growing recognition for his production led to remix assignments from Hot Chip, the Invisible, and Damon Albarn. As a skilled multi-instrumentalist, he turned toward solo work, issuing the 2009 single Heart in Home on XL Recordings/Salvia and the 2010 No Need to Run EP on Young Turks.
In 2012 he joined the Warp roster for the Meantime EP. His debut full-length, Ilp., appeared at the end of 2013 and underscored his reputation as a stylistic maverick by moving between shimmering dream-pop passages and intricate ambient constructions. The 2014 remix EP Ilpix. followed, though solo output soon yielded priority to production duties. These included DELS’ 2014 album Petals Have Fallen; several tracks on Solange’s chart-topping A Seat at the Table in 2016; and material for Nao and Hudson Mohawke. That same year he mixed Kelela’s debut album Take Me Apart and produced additional tracks for it. Warp released his experimental 2018 EP Songs for Midi. Subsequent years brought extensive involvement with recordings by Tirzah, Loyle Carner, Selah Sue, and Nubya Garcia. In 2023 he composed the soundtrack for Raine Allen-Miller’s first feature, Rye Lane, which features the Tirzah and Sampha collaboration “Open Up.”
