ICARUS

2017 has apparently been ICARUS’ biggest year to date. The Bristol brothers’ recent tracks ‘Trouble’ and ‘King Kong’ won repeated Radio 1 airplay and were both highlighted as Hottest Record in the World by Danny Howard and Annie Mac respectively, and they also delivered a summer set at Radio 1’s Live at Café Mambo in Ibiza festivities. Now the duo conclude the year by dropping the brand new track ‘No Sleep’.

Inspired by their adopted home, the track ‘bleeds Massive Attack, Portishead and Redlight into its DNA’. Bringing the classic Bristol sound bang up to date, it kicks off with a vintage breakbeat before it blends an evocative female vocal with old school piano and a progressive edge which keeps it building. With a production which layers sounds deep within the mix, it aims to capture the nocturnal ambience of a late night in a city centre.

‘No Sleep’ also continues the eclectic and often surprising diversity of the ICARUS sound. It’s a step back to the underground after their previous two crossover tracks, while the rest of their discography travels across minimalistic deep house grooves (‘October’), widescreen cinematic soundscapes (‘Home’) and club tracks (‘Ride This Train’).

In addition, their edit of ARLE’s track ‘Close To You’ proved to be yet another Hottest Record in the World, and is now approaching 7 million streams on Spotify alone.

The two spent the summer performing at festivals including Annie Mac’s Lost & Found Festival, MistaJam’s Jampacked Stage at Creamfields, the Hideout Festival, SW4, V and Boardmasters. And they’ve just completed an extensive UK headline tour which has included their first show at London’s Koko and a homecoming set at Motion in Bristol.

Running in parallel with their ascent has been the rise of their Fly Boy label. Their releases this year have included new cuts from artists such as Swan & COTIS, Lauren L’aimant, Ruido and Humans & Machines.