Skinshape

British multi-instrumentalist and producer Will Dorey helms the studio project Skinshape, whose sound merges atmospheric trip-hop with funk, reggae, soul, and psych-rock textures rooted in the 1960s and 1970s. Formerly a member of Palace and the founder of the reggae-focused imprint Horus Records, Dorey has drawn attention for a string of releases that includes the 2015 album Oracolo, 2017’s Life & Love, 2020’s Umoja, and 2022’s Nostalgia.

Born in 1991 in Swanage, Dorset, England, Dorey first gravitated toward music during his teenage years through exposure to Pink Floyd, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and an assortment of Afrobeat, British psych-rock, and reggae acts. He co-founded the alt-rock group Palace in 2012 and contributed to its early EPs as well as the band’s 2016 full-length. While still active in Palace, he introduced Skinshape via a self-titled debut in 2014 and followed it with Oracolo the next year. In 2017 he left Palace to concentrate on his own material, issuing Life & Love, his fourth album, that same year. Filoxiny appeared in 2018, and 2020 brought the simultaneous releases Arrogance Is the Death of Man and Umoja. Beyond Skinshape, Dorey works as a DJ and has produced, recorded, and remixed material for Wah Wah 45s, Mystikal Roots, Dloaw & Co, and his own Horus Records. He resumed activity under the Skinshape name with the 2022 album Nostalgia.