Shock Machine

James Righton, previously renowned through his tenure with nu-rave pioneers Klaxons, pursues hazy electronic pop via the Shock Machine project. His father, himself a musician, urged Righton to join bands during high school, a pursuit that bore fruit once Klaxons attained prominence in the mid- to late 2000s. After the group dissolved in late 2014 following issuance of its third album, Love Frequencies, and a farewell tour, Righton launched independent work under the Shock Machine banner. The atmospheric direction surfaced first through the March 2016 single “Shock Machine,” material he later broadened on the Open Up the Sky EP before year’s end.