The Sunset Violent picks up where Mount Kimbie’s last studio album, 2017’s Love What Survives left off, marrying modern indie, shoegaze and electronica seamlessly into another highly unique and forward-thinking LP from one of London’s most seminal contemporary bands. The album was written in California’s Yucca Valley, a scant Western town with a history of alleged UFO sightings before being finished in London. The desert’s surrealistic, auburn-tinged tones and sparse Americana landscape can be heard across each of the album’s nine tracks, marrying perfectly with the album’s abstract storytelling and cutting-edge songwriting to create another classic Mount Kimbie record.
Fronted by Dominic Maker and Kai Campos, joined by long term collaborators Andrea Balency-Béarn and Marc Pell, Mount Kimbie have spent the past fifteen years crafting a vast catalogue of the most seminal, enduring and influential music to emerge from London’s vibrant music scene. Since their 2010 debut Crooks & Lovers (which topped over 30 Best Albums of the Decade list including Pitchfork, Mixmag and Resident Advisor), the band have continued to evolve across their three LP’s from one of the leading names in British electronic music to also serve as vanguards of a new modern indie, most notably on their most recent full-length, 2017’s Love What Survives.
Their most successful album to date, the album spawned some of Mount Kimbie’s most versatile and ground-breaking work yet, including singles Blue Train Lines (feat. King Krule), Marilyn (feat. Micachu) & We Go Home Together (James Blake). The band toured extensively on the album, selling out venues around the world including The Roundhouse, Brooklyn Steel and more, influencing a raft of post punk bands across the English capital in their wake.
Whether selling out headline dates at clubs or venues as diverse as the Tate Modern, Barbican, & MomaPS1, not to mention playing premiere festival slots such as Primavera, Coachella, Pitchfork Chicago & Paris, Glastonbury, MELT & Club II Clubto name a few, Mount Kimbie has played a pivotal role in the evolution of cutting-edge contemporary British music, cultivating an extensive and die-hard global fan base. Not just content to rest on the laurels of their collective output, both Kai & Dom’s rich sonic tapestry and compulsion to innovate have led to highly impressive solo careers as well with Kai helming a Radio1 Essential Mix alongside, selling out headline dates at Printworks, Fabric & Blitz and releasing the City Planning LP alongside an installation by Tom Shannon & long-term Mount Kimbie collaborator Frank Lebon. Meanwhile, Dom’s Grammy-nominated production work has graced releases from Travis Scott, SZA, Metro Boomin’, Dave, & James Blake among others, and releasing Die Cuts alongside an accompanying film by Tyrone Lebon.
