Mount Kimbie

British electronic outfit Mount Kimbie fuse exploratory sound design with unconventional composition, shifting tactics across each new project. Credited by many with originating the phrase “post-dubstep,” the group’s initial EPs alongside their first long-player, 2010’s Crooks & Lovers, present blurred instrumentals built on off-kilter beats and deftly reworked location recordings. The 2013 set Cold Spring Fault Less Youth and 2017’s Love What Survives stand out as refined art-pop statements that incorporate additional acoustic playing and singing, plus contributions from James Blake, Mica Levi, and King Krule. Split into two discrete halves, the 2022 double release MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning assigns one side to each partner: Dominic Maker’s portion mixes pop, hip-hop, and R&B tracks with assorted collaborators, whereas Kai Campos’ portion focuses on hazy, abstract techno. Two further musicians entered the lineup in 2023, after which the ensemble revisited post-punk textures on 2024’s The Sunset Violent.

Cornwall native Kai Campos and Brighton’s Dominic Maker first connected as students at Southbank University in London. Working out of a domestic workspace, they issued the EPs Maybes and Sketch on Glass through the dubstep-oriented imprint Hotflush in 2009. Those records ranked among the earliest to earn the post-dubstep label, departing from standard U.K. club tempos and forms while folding in experimental techniques and references to R&B and IDM. A pair of remix EPs, one containing James Blake’s take on “Maybes,” appeared in 2010, the same year the duo delivered Crooks & Lovers in July. Mount Kimbie supplied remixes for the xx, Andreya Triana, Foals, and the Big Pink. The pair maintained an active touring schedule, frequently reshaping studio pieces onstage; the EP Blind Night Errand captured a guitar-driven rendition of “Maybes” at Berlin’s Berghain. Carbonated, another remix-focused EP, surfaced in 2011.

Mount Kimbie joined the Warp roster in 2012 and added Tony Kus as live drummer for road dates. Their follow-up album, Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, emerged in 2013, with Campos supplying vocals alongside guest King Krule. Following a remix EP, multiple NTS Radio residencies, and expanded touring that included Marc Pell of Micachu & the Shapes and Andrea Balency-Béarn, the group issued Love What Survives in 2017. That record featured Blake, King Krule, Micachu (Mica Levi), and Balency. The standalone 2018 track “Turtle Neck Man” reunited them with King Krule, while two Love What Survives Remixes EPs also appeared. Campos mixed a techno-centric installment of the DJ-Kicks series for !K7, credited to Mount Kimbie and containing the exclusive cut “Southgate.” WXAXRXP Session, a four-track EP taped live for NTS, arrived in 2019. “Black Stone” and “Blue Liquid,” both recorded during Love What Survives sessions, were released as a single in 2021. Early 2022 brought “AZD SURF,” a joint effort with Actress.

The duo’s fourth album, MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning, followed later that year. Maker, who had relocated to Los Angeles and previously worked with Jay-Z, SZA, and Travis Scott, handled the opening half; his tracks include contributions from Danny Brown, slowthai, KeiyaA, and Liv.e. Campos’ half comprises atmospheric, splintered techno pieces aligned with his DJ sets and prior work alongside Actress. A deluxe edition of City Planning arrived in 2023, carrying remixes by Robert Hood, DJ Stingray, Octo Octa, and additional producers. Pell and Balency-Béarn became official members in 2023, and the expanded band’s debut statement, 2024’s The Sunset Violent, echoed earlier indie-rock leanings while welcoming King Krule back as guest.