Sigma

Sigma crafts expansive, radio-ready drum'n'bass anthems that retain firm ties to the rave underground. Their sound already carried an ambitious, brass-heavy character through late-2000s 12" releases on Bingo Beats and Hospital before vocals entered the picture, yielding consecutive U.K. number-one singles in 2014 with "Nobody to Love" and "Changing." Both tracks appeared on the gold-certified debut album Life, issued in 2015. The follow-up, Hope, arrived in 2022 and shifted toward house and dance-pop, while 2024’s London Sound signaled a return to foundational rave energies. The grime-tinged single "Chargie," featuring Scruffizer and Jamakabi, inaugurated their own Day Ones imprint in 2025.

Cameron Edwards and Joe Lenzie formed Sigma at university in Leeds before relocating to London and issuing early material with third member Ben Mauerhoff. A string of well-received singles from 2006 onward on labels such as Mampi Swift’s Charge and DJ Zinc’s Bingo Beats preceded Mauerhoff’s departure; he later established himself as a Shanghai-based sound designer for the video industry. In 2009 the remaining duo launched Life Recordings as their own outlet, beginning with a V.I.P. remix of the earlier Bingo Beats track "El Presidente." By the close of that year they received the Best Breakthrough DJs award at the Drum’n’Bass Arena Awards. Remix commissions followed, including a 2010 summer rework of Skepta’s U.K. Top 20 hit "Rescue Me," and the pair fulfilled a long-held ambition by releasing the two volumes of the Stand Tall EP on Adam F and Fresh’s Breakbeat Kaos label.

Their late-2011 Night and Day EPs on Life Recordings set the stage for extensive international touring in 2012, among them support dates for fellow former Leeds student Christopher Mercer, known as Rusko. A 2013 remix of DJ Fresh, Jay Fay, and Ms. Dynamite’s "Dibby Dibby Sound" kept momentum high until Sigma scored their first U.K. hit with "Rudeboy," a collaboration with South London grime MC Doctor, in the final weeks of 2013. April 2014 brought a U.K. number one with "Nobody to Love," a track drawing inspiration from Kanye West’s Yeezus album-closer "Bound 2." The next single, "Changing," featured Paloma Faith and became their second platinum-certified chart-topper. Further 2015 successes arrived with "Higher" featuring Labrinth, "Glitterball" featuring Ella Henderson, and "Coming Home" featuring Rita Ora, all preceding the release of debut album Life on 3 Beat.

Sigma issued "Nightingale" in 2016 and collaborated with Take That on "Cry" as well as Birdy on "Find Me." Late 2017 saw the trap-pop single "Forever" with Quavo and Sebastian Kole, followed by "Anywhere" featuring Louis III in 2018. The duo appeared on Thandi Phoenix’s 2019 single "Say It." Their second album, 2022’s Hope, hosted guests including Louisa Johnson, Maverick Sabre, and John Newman while alternating between drum’n’bass, house, and pop. Additional singles preceded the fourth album, London Sound, in 2024, an explicit nod to the pair’s rave origins that included contributions from Crystal Fighters, Watch the Ride, and Everyone You Know. The single "Kenny" with rapper Slay appeared shortly afterward, and 2025’s "Chargie" launched the Day Ones imprint.