Nathan Fake

Nathan Fake, a British electronic musician, produces lush and atmospheric recordings that stretch across atmospheric tech-house and downtempo textures marked by shoegaze influences. Pastoral psychedelia defined his 2006 debut album Drowning in a Sea of Love, which connected strongly with critics and audiences and built the producer a devoted following. Subsequent projects generally favor quicker tempos while retaining urgency and spontaneity. Fake commonly limits himself to hardware and commits tracks to tape in single takes. After the experimental Providence in 2017, his 2020 album Blizzards offered some of his most immediate, club-oriented material, while Crystal Vision in 2023 explored jungle and progressive house.

Fake, whose surname is genuine, started in rural Norfolk in the U.K., where he first handled basic acoustic instruments before developing a passion for electronic styles. At age nineteen he relocated to Reading, which increased the reach of his recordings and allowed his demos to reach producer, remixer, and DJ James Holden. Holden quickly added Fake to the Border Community roster and issued the 12-inches Outhouse and The Sky Was Pink, which expanded his recognition on a global dance level. Listeners across electronic genres, among them François K and Satoshi Tomiie, responded to Fake’s singular sound, and his tracks ranked among the most requested of 2004.

Further 12-inch releases on Traum appeared in 2005, followed by the March 2006 release of his debut album Drowning in a Sea of Love on Border Community. Comparisons to Boards of Canada and Ulrich Schnauss accompanied strong reviews from Pitchfork and Mixmag, among other publications. The remix collection Drowning in a Sea of Remixes, containing reworkings by Apparat and Fairmont, came next, and Four Tet reworked the album track “You Are Here” in 2007.

Fake later settled in London, where his second album Hard Islands surfaced in 2009. More minimal and club-focused than its predecessor, the record still reflected his skill for detailed sound design. Steam Days, the third album, arrived in 2012 and featured the singles “Paean” and “Iceni Strings.” It preserved the club energy and raw edge of the previous work while favoring shorter, tighter tracks. In 2014 Fake and Wesley Matsell launched Cambria Instruments, beginning with a split 12-inch and continuing with the Glaive EP in 2015.

Fake joined Ninja Tune in 2016 after remixing the label’s artist Dorian Concept the year before. Degreelessness, a collaboration with Prurient, marked his first release on the imprint and appeared late that year. Providence, his most experimental album to date, followed in March 2017. Two Providence Reworks EPs and the dancefloor-oriented Sunder EP arrived in 2018. Blizzards, his fifth album, delivered propulsive, hardware-based techno tracks shaped by early rave, IDM, folklore, and spirituality and was issued in 2020 on Cambria Instruments. The EP Sanxenxo appeared in 2021. Crystal Vision arrived in 2023 with Wizard Apprentice and Clark as guests.