Carmen Villain

The diverse sonic worlds that Carmen Villain has built over her career are shaped by her natural curiosity of sound. Her music hits a sweet spot between dub's blunt rhythmic lilt and cosmic fourth world, with snatches of instruments such as the flute, voice and clarinet creating evocative granular soundscapes and melodies. Her most recent studio album, Only Love From Now On, was released to critical acclaim, landing on several end of year lists, including Pitchfork and Resident Advisor, with the latter calling it “a masterpiece of jazz-informed ambient and downtempo.” Last year she released Music from The Living Monument, with music she composed for Eszter Salamon’s contemporary dance performance for Carte Blanche. Carmen has brought her atmospheric live performance to venues and festivals such as ICA London, Berlin Atonal, Dekmantel and Mutek. She has often invited luminaries and like minds for collaboration, including Actress, Arve Henriksen, Biosphere, Huerco S and Jenny Hval. Carmen Villain is half Norwegian, half Mexican, and lives in Oslo.