Trip hop

April 15, 2026April 12, 2026

Music for chilling out: Trip hop & ambient (part 2)

Not all music for chilling out falls under the heading of trip hop. In that swnse, the term ‘ambient’ suits better. Its emphasis is more on the creation of an atmosphere than on message, melody or rhythm. Ambient has a calming effect or brings you in a contemplative mood. Pioneers of this style include Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian Eno, Vangelis, Mike Oldfield and the band Kraftwerk.

Listen here to ‘Oxygene’, a composition by Jean-Michel Jarre from 1975

Brian Eno is credited with putting ‘ambient’ on the map in 1978 with the album Ambient 1: Music for Airports^[1]. For him, ambient is a style that remains exciting and unpredictable even as background music. Ambient music aims to create peace and a space for reflection and meditation. You can listen to it in various ways, ranging from ignorance to becoming captivated. Listen to this album here.

Variants

Ambient has several variants, which I shall briefly outline:

New age

‘New age’ refers to forms of ‘ambient’ that are explicitly composed to support meditation and relaxation exercises. Consequently, this music has a repetitive dynamic and texture and avoids rapid changes in tempo, rhythm and timbre. Compositions are minimalist in design and instrumental rather than vocal. Common instruments include piano, strings and flute, often emulated by a synthesizer. It is mainly used in alternative medicine, yoga and meditation.

Drone

‘Drone’ is a minimalist form of ‘ambient’ music in which the emphasis is on the use of sustained sounds, notes or clusters of notes, known as drones. This form of music typically features long compositions with relatively little harmonic variation. La Monte Young, one of the pioneers in the 1960s, defined ‘drone’ as “the sustained tone branch of minimalism”. Listen here to a composition by La Monte Young from 1960.

Speace

‘Space’ is a ‘variant of ‘ambient’ that creates a celestriall timbre. This style is mainly used as background music, particularly in films, but also for conscious listening, relaxation, contemplation and inspisoms ration. The style is experienced as soothing and peaceful.

Ambient techno

‘Ambient techno’, ‘intelligent dance music’ or ‘armchair ambient’ border on electronic dance music (EDM), which was popular around the turn of the century. Some tracks were less suited to dancing and much more to daydreaming at home or unwinding. This type of music came from artists such as Boards of Canada with the track ‘Music is Math’, and Secede Outran, which you can listen to below:

Recent examples

Spotify and YouTube playlists with names such as Chilled Folk, Chill Hits, Evening Chill, Chilled R&B, Indie Chillout, Chill Hop, Lo-fi Hip Hop and Chill Tracks still have millions of followers today. Due to their enduring popularity, at the start of the21^th century various artists ventured into the realm of ambient and trip-hop, with the two genres being blended. Think of artists and groups such as Björk, Bowery Electric, Everything but the Girl, Anomie Belle, Alpha and Lamb. Some of these are discussed below. You can listen here to ‘Rhubarb’ by Aphex Twin from the album *Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2* (1994)

Björk

Björk is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer and actress. Her vocal range spans three octaves. She has developed an eclectic musical style, incorporating elements of electronica, pop, dance, trip-hop, jazz and avant-garde. The development of her style has been influenced by composers such as Arnold Schönberg, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Philip Glass and Sun Ra, as well as groups like Kraftwerk and singers such as Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. She was inspired by the music scene in London, where she lived for a time. That scene was partly defined in the 1990s by the trip-hop of Tricky, Portishead and Massive Attack.

Björk’s album Debut (1993) is one of the first albums to introduce electronic music, and in particular ‘dance’, to mainstream pop. Critics regard her albums Post (1995) and Homogenic (1997) as highlights of trip hop. You can listen to ‘Venus as a Boy’ from the latter album here.

Elsiane

Elsiane is a band with strong trip-hop influences, which released its first album, Hybrid, in 2007. The group creates a warm, hypnotic atmosphere, comparable to the sounds of Massive Attack and Portishead in the 1990s. Listen to the title track of the eponymous album here.

Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey is the stage name of Elisabeth (‘Lizzy’) Grant (born 1985), under which she released her first songs. She made her own music videos, thereby drawing attention to herself. Many of her songs are melancholic and draw on 1950s America. Her style is classified as ‘alternative pop’ and, certainly at the start of her career, she was influenced by psychedelic rock, hip hop and trip hop. This influence is clear on her debut album, Born to Die (2012). It topped the charts in eleven countries, including Australia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and sold 3.4 million copies. The album remained on the US Billboard 200 for 520 weeks.

Tracks from this album include: Summertime Sadness, Videogames, Blue Jeans and the title track Born to Die, which you can listen to below.

The sound, themes and production of Born to Die had a major influence on popular music. In 2019, The Washington Post named Del Rey one of the “five people who have helped shape the culture of the past decade”. Al Horner of Red Bull described Born to Die as “[a] blueprint for a new musical world”. Like other artists discussed here, she has charted a new course alongside the ubiquitous electronic dance music (EDM).

Anomie Belle

Finally, I’d like to mention Anomie Belle, an American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer. You can hear her here in the track Sleeping Pattern.

Film music

Many films make use of ‘ambient music’, in all its forms. Examples include Blade Runner (1982), Dune (1984), Titanic (1997), The Passion of the Christ (2004), Chernobyl (2019) and Dune Part 2 (2021). Here you can listen to ‘Beginnings are such delicate times’ from the Dune: Part Two Soundtrack (2021).

The group Massive Attack has also written soundtracks for films, such as Danny the Dog (2005) and Bullet Boy (2005). Three more followed in 2007, namely for the films In Prison My Whole Life, Battle in Seattle and Trouble in the Water. The instrumental track Herculaneum from the film Gomorra won the award for best song in Italy. Watch and listen to the track Babel from this film, recorded during the Melt Festival in 2010.

Neoclassicism

Of a completely different nature, but worth mentioning in this context, is a movement that harks back to 19^th and early 20^th century romantic music. Rather than referring to it as neo-romanticism, this movement is called neoclassicism. The most prominent contemporary representative – with millions of downloads – is Ludovico Einaudi. His compositions are popular, both as background music and for listening to, presumably due to their simplicity: Almost all Einaudi’s compositions are based on the first, fourth and fifth chords. That is why they sound so similar. Listen here to one or more of his compositions on his album 10 pieces by Ludovico Einaudi

One composer who can truly lay claim to the term ‘neoclassical’ is Erik Satie, a French composer from the early 20^thcentury. He used Dada-inspired harmonic and formal experiments to create an early form of ambient music which he called ‘musique d’ameublement’. His aim was to create a suitable atmosphere for specific activities, such as a dinner party, without drawing attention to the musician. Thanks to the variation in rhythm and timbre, his compositions lend themselves also to attentive listening, whether at home or in the concert hall. You can listen to his Gymnopédie No. 1 here

^[1] This music was trialled in airports for a while. Staff were largely negative about it. They found the composition sombre and associated it with death and mourning

March 15, 2026

Music for chilling out: Trip hop & ambient (part 1)

Rock has lost a considerable amount of popularity in recent decades. Electronic dance music (EDM) – sometimes also referred to as synth pop – is a favourite among the under-50s. But by no means everyone is keen to be hyped up by the heavy beat of dance music from early morning until late at night. There is a range of ‘quieter’ genres available that you can listen to in a relaxed manner, whilst still feeling your taste is up to date. The main examples are ‘trip hop’ and ‘ambient’, collectively referred to as music for chilling out. If you go for a drink or sit down to read a book in a hotel lounge in the evening, there’s a good chance you’ll hear this sort of music.

This and the next blogpost are about music for chilling out’. In this instalment, you’ll look at and listen to ‘trip hop’. The next instalment will cover genres often grouped under the heading ‘ambient’.

Like hip hop, trip hop is largely produced electronically and features a (subtle) beat. The timbre (tone) has a more psychedelic feel, with an emphasis on atmosphere. Musical influences come mainly from pop, jazz, funk and reggae. The music is primarily intended for listening.

Below are the five groups and artists who defined the contours of trip hop: Massive Attack, UNCLE, Tricky, Portishead and Morcheeba.

They are all rooted in Bristol. This city is regarded as the epicentre of trip hop. This is likely due in part to the thriving Jamaican music culture there, which produces much more laid-back music than that from the inner-city slums of American cities.

Massive Attack

This group, formed in 1988, released her debut album Blue Lines in 1991, widely regarded as the first album of the ‘trip hop’ genre. The band’s line-up has varied over the years, centring on Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja and Grant ‘Daddy ‘G’ Marshall. Thanks to this group, trip hop secured a place on the European charts. The single ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ became a hit across Europe, including reaching number one on the Dutch Top 40. Watch the video here.

The third album, Mezzanine (1998), reached number one in the UK and remains the group’s biggest commercial success to date. The album was particularly praised for its heavier sound and atmospheric style. The singles ‘Angel’ and ‘Teardrops’ also fared well. According to critics, the album ranks among the best records ever made in the UK. The follow-up album, 100th Window (2003), was particularly successful outside the UK. One of the tracks features Sinéad O’Connor. Listen to the track ‘Everywhen’ here. Heligoland (2010) was also a success, featuring a large number of renowned guest musicians.

In July 2020, Massive Attack released a politically charged audiovisual EP entitled Eutopia, named after Thomas More’s 16century book. This EP was created during a period of global lockdown. It is a collection of three music videos, on which three influential academics collaborated. The footage was created by Robert Del Naja, amongst others, and designed using generative algorithms by AI art pioneer Mario Klingemann.

Each of the three videos focuses on a political issue: The first part deals with global systemic change required to tackle the climate crisis (with the collaboration of Christiana Figueres, co-author of the Paris Climate Agreement). The commentary in the second part is provided by the founder of the principle of a universal basic income, Professor Guy Standing. For the third part, it is Professor Gabriel Zuchman, an advocate for tackling tax havens. Each video ends with a quote from Thomas More’s Utopia. Watch and listen here to one of Massive Attack’s contributions, the track ‘Antistar’, performed live here at Pinkpop (2003)

Tricky

Tricky is the stage name of Adrian Thaws, a former member of Massive Attack. His debut album, Maxinquaye (1995), was well received. On this album, he collaborated with singer Martina Topley-Bird, a partnership that has continued since then. His work is known for its dark, layered musical style that blends genres, including hip hop, alternative rock and reggae. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Terry Hall, Björk, Alanis Morissette, Grace Jones and PJ Harvey. From this album, you can listen to ‘Aftermath’. He has an almost whispering voice with which he delivers abstract lyrics.

He later released two more albums: Nearly God (1996), featuring Björk, and Knowle West Boy (2008), which refers to his troubled and criminal youth in the deprived neighbourhood of the same name. Tricky has also gained a certain fame as an actor in various films, including Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element (1997).

UNKLE

Like Massive Attack, UNKLE consists of a small core group (currently just James Lavelle), who calls upon renowned guest artists for each new album. The first ’s album, Psyence Fiction (1998), featured, amongst others: Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Mark Hollis (Talk Talk), Mike D (Beastie Boys), Newsted (Metallica) and Richard Ashcroft (The Verve). Reviews of this album were mixed. You can listen to two tracks here: Rabbit in Your Headlights and Be There.

The second and third albums – Never, Never, Land (2003) and War Stories (2007) – were also produced using this formula. You can listen to ‘Chemistry’ from the latter album here.

The album War Stories inspired several artists to create works of art. These have been on display since March 2008 in the exhibition War Paint, with contributions from Robert Del Naja, Warren du Preez, Nick Thornton Jones, Will Bankhead and Ben Drury, amongst others.

New albums include Where did the night fall (2010) and The road, part 1 (2016), which features the single Cowboys or Indians, amongst others. This album was also accompanied by an exhibition of artworks at the Lazarider Gallery in London.

Portishead

This band consists of Beth Gibbons (vocals), Geoff Barrow (various instruments, production) and Adrian Utley (guitar). The group’s debut album is Dummy (1994), which was released alongside a short film made by the group, To Kill a Dead Man. The album received rave reviews and sold well. Melody Maker described it as “musique noire for a movie not yet made”. The album spawned three singles. You can listen to one of them, ‘Glory Box’, here. The following year, the band won the Mercury Music Prize for the best album of that year in the UK.

The second album, Portishead (1997), makes greater use of live instrumentation and relies less on sampling. Three singles, “All Mine”, “Over” and “ Only You ”, were released, the first of which reached the Top 10 in the UK. Listen here to a live performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The band is accompanied for this occasion by a full orchestra.

The band members would reportedly spend the years following this album on solo projects; over a decade later, the third album was released, aptly named Third (2008). The album’s release was accompanied by an extensive tour. You can listen to and watch Magic Doors here

Morcheeba

The band was formed in the mid-1990s by singer Skye Edwards and brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey. Their music is a mix of trip hop, rock and folk rock, styles that reflect the band members’ backgrounds. Over the years, they have released ten studio albums, two of which reached the UK top ten. Their debut album, Who Can You Trust (1996), set the tone for later albums, not least because of Edwards’ soulful voice. Listen to the track ‘Moog Island’ here.

On the following album, *Big Calm* (1998), ‘folk’ elements push the trip-hop character somewhat into the background. It is, however, one of the band’s most popular albums. You can watch and listen to a live recording of the track *The Sea* here.

The fourth album, ‘Charango’ (2002), was also a great success, with the band returning to their ‘roots’ in the eyes of their fans. For the fifth album, ‘The Antidote’ (2006), a replacement had to be found for Edwards, due to growing personal and artistic differences between her and the Godfrey brothers. After several unsuccessful attempts, no fewer than five different vocalists were used on Dive Deep (2008). Eventually, Edwards returned to the band. At the same time, Paul Godfrey left, tired of constant touring. Edwards and the remaining brother, Ross, continued under the name Skye & Ross, which is also the title of their new album (2014). Here you can watch and listen to an acoustic version of the song Light of Gold.

The following albums are being released again under the name Morcheeba. From *Blaze Away* (2018), you can watch and listen to *Never Undo* (2021) here, filmed during a live performance at the Rock Palast. From the tenth album *Black & Blue* (2021), you can watch and listen to a live recording of the track *Sounds of Blue* below:

Finally, I’d like to mention the recently released eleventh album, Call for Love (2025). You can listen to the previously released single, We Live and Die.

Due to its slow tempo and relaxed nature, trip hop belongs to a broader genre that is not electronic in the first place and is also more varied in terms of rhythm and sound. In the next post, I’d like to introduce you to artists and groups for whom ‘trip hop’ is too narrow a term and for whom the term ‘ambient’ is more appropriate.

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