Biography
Mica Levi, a composer, producer, and singer-songwriter who pushes past conventional limits, fuses classical forms, avant-garde experiments, hip-hop rhythms, electronic textures, and indie approaches through an unceasing inventive drive. Work with the group Good Sad Happy Bad, previously known as Micachu & the Shapes, on the 2009 album Jewellery brought forward their sharp style of experimental pop, setting abrasive guitar lines against catchy tunes while incorporating sampled noises and even household appliances such as vacuum cleaners. The sustained string textures on Chopped & Screwed, the ensemble’s bold 2011 project alongside the London Sinfonietta, pointed toward Levi’s formal classical background and the recognition that would soon arrive through scoring. The unsettling yet luminous soundtrack for the 2014 movie Under the Skin, which earned a BAFTA nomination, positioned Levi as a significant creative force, a standing reinforced by further Grammy- and BAFTA-nominated music for 2016’s Jackie together with scores for 2019’s Monos and 2020’s Small Axe. This breadth also appeared in the range of collaborators, extending from rappers such as Wiki and Brother May to players including Oliver Coates and Eliza McCarthy. Solo output proved equally vital, with 2020’s Ruff Dog highlighting the playful, unpredictable core of Levi’s sound.
Levi entered the world in Surrey, England, as the child of a music professor father and a cellist mother, beginning to play and write music at the age of four. A scholarship awarded at nine allowed study of viola, violin, and composition at the Purcell School. During teenage years Levi started creating pieces on computer. Another scholarship led to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where further composition training broadened an already expanding musical outlook. An acoustic guitar received from a friend soon brought punk-inflected pop songs into the mix. Connection with producer Matthew Herbert resulted in a signing to the Accidental label and work on material for a first album. Toward the end of 2007 Levi chose to expand the project into a band, enlisting Guildhall classmates drummer and percussionist Marc Pell along with keyboardist Raisa Khan to establish Micachu & the Shapes. The group issued its limited-edition debut single “Lone Ranger” in May 2008. That same year one of Levi’s compositions received a performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall during composition studies.
Beyond formal classical preparation and indie electronic interests, Levi drew influence from hip-hop and the active grime and garage scenes across the U.K. Alongside DJing, MCing, and generating loops and beats at performances, friendships formed with London MCs Brother May and Baker Trouble after encounters at a café near Guildhall. Brother May appeared among the contributors to Levi’s February 2009 mixtape Filthy Friends, a wide-ranging release that also featured Ghostpoet, Kwes., Jack Peñate, and Golden Silvers, with later mixtapes incorporating Kwake Bass as well as Kwes. and Brother May. The next month Rough Trade put out Micachu & the Shapes’ debut album Jewellery. Co-produced by Herbert, the record contained the social-media favorite “Golden Phone.” In 2010 Levi became Artist-in-Residence at London’s Southbank Centre, becoming at age 24 the youngest recipient of that distinction. That May Micachu & the Shapes joined the London Sinfonietta to record material that combined the band’s handmade instruments with orchestral elements. Levi later reworked the live tapes into 2011’s Chopped & Screwed, an experimental blend of slowed hip-hop pulses and dissonant strings. The self-produced July 2012 album Never was tracked at Pell’s studio, with Micachu & the Shapes pairing the rhythm- and texture-centered songs with self-directed visuals.
After Never, Levi turned attention for several years to outside projects. Partnership with friend Tirzah Mastin yielded an arresting blend of U.K. garage, R&B, and pop on Tirzah’s 2013 EP I’m Not Dancing and its 2014 follow-up No Romance. Also in 2014 Levi released the mixtape Feeling Romantic Feeling Tropical Feeling Ill on Demdike Stare’s DDS label, yet a decisive step arrived with the score for Jonathan Glazer’s unsettling science-fiction film Under the Skin. Upon its March 2014 appearance the music drew acclaim for its eerie design and melodies that echoed the film’s imagery. Levi received Best Composer at the 2014 European Film Awards, while Under the Skin earned BAFTA, British Independent Film, and Los Angeles Film Critics Award nominations.
Alongside production for Wiki and Tirzah, Levi rejoined Micachu & the Shapes in 2015. Issued that September, the band’s free-flowing third album Good Sad Happy Bad emerged from extended jam sessions recorded by Pell without the prior knowledge of Khan or Levi. The following March the group adopted the name Good Sad Happy Bad, with producer CJ Calderwood joining and Khan assuming lead vocals; the single “Looking Up at the Sun/Mash One” marked the first release under the new identity. In November 2016 Levi further solidified a reputation as an innovative composer with the score for Pablo Larraín’s Jackie. Recognition for the haunting music composed for the Jacqueline Kennedy biopic included a nomination for Best Original Score at the 89th Academy Awards. That December brought Remain Calm, a collaboration with cellist and Guildhall acquaintance Oliver Coates. Amid other activity Levi also worked that year with Babyfather and Arca.
Throughout the later 2010s Levi maintained multiple creative strands. Early in 2017 piano- and electronics-based music was supplied for Delete Beach, a short anime film by visual artist and director Phil Collins. A contribution followed on Mount Kimbie’s “Marilyn” from the album Love What Survives. Levi additionally participated in music for Collins’ installation Ceremony at that year’s Manchester International Festival and composed the score for Michael Almereyda’s science-fiction feature Marjorie Prime. The next year a reunion with Tirzah produced the full-length Devotion, steering the singer toward confessional R&B. The pair then appeared as Taz & Meeks on Curl Compilation, an EP that also included Brother May and Coby Sey. Further activity in 2018 encompassed work with pianist Eliza McCarthy on that October’s Slow Dark Green Murky Waterfall.
Together with productions for Wiki and Brother May, 2019 saw Levi deliver scores for Glazer’s short The Fall, Alejandro Landes’ war film Monos, and an exhibition of photographer Nan Goldin’s work at London’s Marian Goodman Gallery. In 2020 music was provided for the dark comedy Zola and the opening episode of Steve McQueen’s series Small Axe. That October Good Sad Happy Bad issued its fourth album Shades, the group’s most pop-oriented collection since Jewellery. In December Levi self-released Ruff Dog, a set of abstract, guitar-centered pieces.
Levi entered the world in Surrey, England, as the child of a music professor father and a cellist mother, beginning to play and write music at the age of four. A scholarship awarded at nine allowed study of viola, violin, and composition at the Purcell School. During teenage years Levi started creating pieces on computer. Another scholarship led to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where further composition training broadened an already expanding musical outlook. An acoustic guitar received from a friend soon brought punk-inflected pop songs into the mix. Connection with producer Matthew Herbert resulted in a signing to the Accidental label and work on material for a first album. Toward the end of 2007 Levi chose to expand the project into a band, enlisting Guildhall classmates drummer and percussionist Marc Pell along with keyboardist Raisa Khan to establish Micachu & the Shapes. The group issued its limited-edition debut single “Lone Ranger” in May 2008. That same year one of Levi’s compositions received a performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall during composition studies.
Beyond formal classical preparation and indie electronic interests, Levi drew influence from hip-hop and the active grime and garage scenes across the U.K. Alongside DJing, MCing, and generating loops and beats at performances, friendships formed with London MCs Brother May and Baker Trouble after encounters at a café near Guildhall. Brother May appeared among the contributors to Levi’s February 2009 mixtape Filthy Friends, a wide-ranging release that also featured Ghostpoet, Kwes., Jack Peñate, and Golden Silvers, with later mixtapes incorporating Kwake Bass as well as Kwes. and Brother May. The next month Rough Trade put out Micachu & the Shapes’ debut album Jewellery. Co-produced by Herbert, the record contained the social-media favorite “Golden Phone.” In 2010 Levi became Artist-in-Residence at London’s Southbank Centre, becoming at age 24 the youngest recipient of that distinction. That May Micachu & the Shapes joined the London Sinfonietta to record material that combined the band’s handmade instruments with orchestral elements. Levi later reworked the live tapes into 2011’s Chopped & Screwed, an experimental blend of slowed hip-hop pulses and dissonant strings. The self-produced July 2012 album Never was tracked at Pell’s studio, with Micachu & the Shapes pairing the rhythm- and texture-centered songs with self-directed visuals.
After Never, Levi turned attention for several years to outside projects. Partnership with friend Tirzah Mastin yielded an arresting blend of U.K. garage, R&B, and pop on Tirzah’s 2013 EP I’m Not Dancing and its 2014 follow-up No Romance. Also in 2014 Levi released the mixtape Feeling Romantic Feeling Tropical Feeling Ill on Demdike Stare’s DDS label, yet a decisive step arrived with the score for Jonathan Glazer’s unsettling science-fiction film Under the Skin. Upon its March 2014 appearance the music drew acclaim for its eerie design and melodies that echoed the film’s imagery. Levi received Best Composer at the 2014 European Film Awards, while Under the Skin earned BAFTA, British Independent Film, and Los Angeles Film Critics Award nominations.
Alongside production for Wiki and Tirzah, Levi rejoined Micachu & the Shapes in 2015. Issued that September, the band’s free-flowing third album Good Sad Happy Bad emerged from extended jam sessions recorded by Pell without the prior knowledge of Khan or Levi. The following March the group adopted the name Good Sad Happy Bad, with producer CJ Calderwood joining and Khan assuming lead vocals; the single “Looking Up at the Sun/Mash One” marked the first release under the new identity. In November 2016 Levi further solidified a reputation as an innovative composer with the score for Pablo Larraín’s Jackie. Recognition for the haunting music composed for the Jacqueline Kennedy biopic included a nomination for Best Original Score at the 89th Academy Awards. That December brought Remain Calm, a collaboration with cellist and Guildhall acquaintance Oliver Coates. Amid other activity Levi also worked that year with Babyfather and Arca.
Throughout the later 2010s Levi maintained multiple creative strands. Early in 2017 piano- and electronics-based music was supplied for Delete Beach, a short anime film by visual artist and director Phil Collins. A contribution followed on Mount Kimbie’s “Marilyn” from the album Love What Survives. Levi additionally participated in music for Collins’ installation Ceremony at that year’s Manchester International Festival and composed the score for Michael Almereyda’s science-fiction feature Marjorie Prime. The next year a reunion with Tirzah produced the full-length Devotion, steering the singer toward confessional R&B. The pair then appeared as Taz & Meeks on Curl Compilation, an EP that also included Brother May and Coby Sey. Further activity in 2018 encompassed work with pianist Eliza McCarthy on that October’s Slow Dark Green Murky Waterfall.
Together with productions for Wiki and Brother May, 2019 saw Levi deliver scores for Glazer’s short The Fall, Alejandro Landes’ war film Monos, and an exhibition of photographer Nan Goldin’s work at London’s Marian Goodman Gallery. In 2020 music was provided for the dark comedy Zola and the opening episode of Steve McQueen’s series Small Axe. That October Good Sad Happy Bad issued its fourth album Shades, the group’s most pop-oriented collection since Jewellery. In December Levi self-released Ruff Dog, a set of abstract, guitar-centered pieces.
Albums
Zola (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2021
Blue Alibi
2021
Ruff Dog
2020
Jackie (Original Soundtrack Album)
2020
Remain Calm
2016
Monos (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2014
Under the Skin
2014
Singles
