Maya Jane Coles, the London-based producer, DJ, and vocalist, crafts shadowy bass-heavy material under the Nocturnal Sunshine alias that draws on dubstep, U.K. garage, and hip-hop. The project’s self-titled debut LP, which folded aching vocals into hazy atmospheric textures and syncopated beats, surfaced in 2015. Its ambitious 2019 successor, Full Circle, arrived as a guest-laden set that merged rap, indie, and drum’n’bass textures.
Coles first experimented with production as a teenager, focusing on hip-hop and downtempo pieces. She began issuing house music under her own name in 2008 and achieved international recognition after the widely praised 2010 single “What They Say.” Around that period she also released the dubstep-infused “Can’t Hide the Way I Feel” as Nocturnal Sunshine. The alias resurfaced for several 2010–2011 remixes, among them reworkings of the Orb and Alpines, and for the track “Meant to Be” that appeared on her 2012 DJ-Kicks mix. She revived the project in 2015 with the single “Take Me There” and the album Nocturnal Sunshine, both issued on her own I/AM/ME label. After the 2017 double-album Take Flight under her primary moniker, Coles returned to Nocturnal Sunshine for the 2018 single “Foundation.” Full Circle followed in 2019, spanning breakbeat to trap and featuring guests Peaches, Young M.A., Gangsta Boo, and Ry X.
