🎧 Approved: TROPICS

TROPICS is the project of British producer and musician Chris Ward, now based in Los Angeles. He’s been quietly shaping his own corner of electronic music for a while now - a space where gentle psychedelia, melted keys and slow-pour vocals meet in beautifully understated ways.

Recently released single, ‘Ionian Mirage’, is a gentle, sun-soaked escape - written while Ward was stuck in LA, longing for the other side of the world. “I was lost in memories of the Mediterranean and Ionian Sea”, he says, “trying to listen to that part of myself that just wanted to run away somewhere, with someone.”

The track is built around a warm, slightly eerie Rhodes loop, with brushed drums, deep bass and soft psychedelic flourishes drifting in like sea air. Fans of James Blake, Mount Kimbie, Toro Y Moi and even Bar Italia will find something to love here - but there’s a distinct emotional current that’s very much his own.

‘Ionian Mirage’ is the first taste of Ward’s new album ‘Reality Fever’, out 3 Sep via his own label Modern Entity.

Also worth checking: ‘Cherry’, a more stripped-back, quietly gorgeous track that just dropped without much fuss, but lingers just as long.

🎧 Watch the video for ‘Ionian Mirage’ below