Simian Mobile Disco

U.K. electronic pair Simian Mobile Disco emerged after breaking away from the experimental electronic outfit Simian, first delivering crossover electro successes before moving into minimal and underground techno territory. The two had joined forces with vocalist Simon Lord and Alex MacNaughton to establish Simian during the late 1990s. Dissatisfied in their band roles and driven by a longstanding interest in electronic dance music, they began taking on DJ bookings amid the group’s touring schedule. They eventually parted ways with Simian and adopted the name Simian Mobile Disco. To steer clear of overly refined and rigidly sequenced electronic dance productions, SMD worked exclusively with analog equipment. That method produced Attack Decay Sustain Release, which surfaced in June 2007 on the Wichita label.

Ford simultaneously took on production duties for Mystery Jets, Klaxons, and the Arctic Monkeys. Simian Mobile Disco played occasional live dates through 2007 and started shaping a follow-up album the next year. The remix collection Sample and Hold arrived in 2008 to tide listeners over. Their actual second album, Temporary Pleasure, appeared in 2009 and included vocal contributions from Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys, the Gossip’s Beth Ditto, and Jamie Lidell.

In 2010 the duo compiled the first entry in a series of mix albums tied to the New York club night Fixed and closed the year with the decidedly club-focused studio album Delicacies. Their third studio album, Unpatterns, arrived in early 2012. The next two years were spent readying the fourth studio album, Whorl, which was recorded in part live before an audience of 900 at California’s Pappy & Harriet’s on April 26, 2014, then refined for release that September. For the 2016 album Welcome to Sideways, the pair leaned further into the minimal style they had been refining, its gradual-build character aligning with their own Delicacies label. While preparing the subsequent album, Ford and Shaw were introduced to the Hackney-based Deep Throat Choir and brought the ensemble into the studio. The collaboration yielded 2018’s Murmurations, an album that scaled back the intensity of prior releases while underscoring the choir’s ability and its seamless place within the dance music world.