#20 Feat. New Releases in Electronica

Elf Traps is the new project from Rob Turner (former GoGo Penguin) and Liviu Gheorghe (former Matthew Halsall). Born of creative restlessness and deep friendship comes a wild, improvisation-driven sound world where acoustic drums, robotic percussion machines and synths interact in real time. Their debut release, Sunflowers In A Blue Sky, captured the energy of Elf Traps underground live shows in a focused two-track EP, blending Turners glitch-inflected drumming with Gheorghes expansive, textural synth work. The release attracted strong specialist radio support across BBC Introducing, BBC 6 Music, and Stuart Maconies Freak Zone, with Elf Traps named BBC Introducing One to Watch 2026. Their second EP expands the palette further. Blop is high-energy and percussive, driven by urgent rhythms and machine-human interplay, while New Moon moves into more hypnotic territory -- trippy sampled vocals, slow-burn grooves, and immersive atmospheres. Blending spiritual jazz, glitchy electronics, jungle, ambient and beyond, their sound draws on influences from Squarepusher, Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid, Buddhism, Star Trek and the organic forms of Friedensreich Hundertwasser -- shaping a kaleidoscopic sonic landscape that feels dreamlike, instinctive and entirely their own.

Elf Traps