CARIBOU

“There are definitely points on this record where my wife and I have disagreed”

Canadian musician Dan Snaith first discovered his love of making music while growing up in a small town outside Toronto, but it was after settling in London in the early 2000s that his musical output really came to life. Over the years, the city’s electronic music culture has slowly become an integral part of the Caribou sound. While early releases – first under the name Manitoba, then as Caribou – blended electronic sampling with influences from progressive and psychedelic rock, it was breakthrough record Swim in 2010 that saw Snaith really nail his own distinctive sound, underpinning those ‘band’ elements with throbbing club pulse.

In recent years, Snaith has delved further still into the world of dance music with extended DJ sets and a second, club-focused alias Daphni – resulting in two full length albums and an excellent FabricLive release. In 2020, he returns with Suddenly, his first Caribou album since 2014’s Our Love. It’s a record that combines a myriad of influences, blending modular synths with soul loops, shredding guitar parts and pop radio vocal edits. We met up with Snaith in his North London home – which also houses his studio – to find out how it came together.

In terms of its production, how did Suddenly differ from previous Caribou albums?

I guess on a macroscopic level I always have the same process which is, I’m in the studio every day. I really enjoy the first step, generating an idea from nothing. I’ll make two or three 30 second long loops and they just accumulate – every day I