Peaking Lights

Husband-and-wife duo Peaking Lights combine elements of dub, Krautrock, disco, and psychedelic pop in their unique brand of cosmic music. Initially making spaced-out experiments and improvisations, they established a dub-influenced lo-fi pop sound with the acclaimed 2011 full-length 936. Later efforts such as 2014's Cosmic Logic and 2020's E S C A P E explored synth pop and house influences, and were much more cleanly produced, yet still retained the dreamy, homemade charm of their earlier work.

Indra Dunis (of <a href="spotify:artist:7E8yETzDbHYASNxtFQysf7">Dynasty</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:54QfCw9UFq4SUZydhuDVSy">Numbers</a>) and Aaron Coyes were bandmates in the Bay Area band Rahdunes before forming a home-recording project using a drum machine, a Hammond organ, a guitar, and thick bass grooves. They made their debut in 2008 with several limited-edition tapes and CD-Rs, including releases on the well-regarded <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Night+People%22">Night People</a> label as well as collaborations with Italian free jazz collective <a href="spotify:artist:4cTEQ1qaE6ZigSThYzSQ1Y">Jooklo</a>. Peaking Lights' first vinyl releases, Imaginary Falcons (2009) and Space Primitive (2010), both appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Night+People%22">Night People</a>, and contained extremely lo-fi space-pop songs shrouded in echo and tape hiss.

The duo made their first appearance on Los Angeles-based label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Not+Not+Fun%22">Not Not Fun</a> in 2010, sharing a split 7" (as part of the label's Bored Fortress series) with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Night+People%22">Night People</a> founders <a href="spotify:artist:2ytjWNyFoml1PlQP9ktLGE">Wet Hair</a>. The following year, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22NNF%22">NNF</a> released Peaking Lights' dub-heavy full-length 936 to glowing reviews and a widening fan base. The group's momentum led them to signing with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Domino+Records%22">Domino Records</a> subsidiary label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Weird+World%22">Weird World</a>, which re-released a deluxe edition of 936 in November 2011. The album spawned two different remix EPs: 936 Remixes (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Weird+World%22">Weird World</a>), which featured takes by dub pioneer <a href="spotify:artist:4vZIz0gG5DD3Qj9MB6kclW">Adrian Sherwood</a> and cloud rap duo <a href="spotify:artist:3jdktm1PgLu9u3tS1YUKrW">Main Attrakionz</a>, and the more dance-friendly 936 Remixed, which was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22NNF%22">NNF</a>'s house sublabel <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22100%25+Silk%22">100% Silk</a>.

2012 saw the release of Peaking Lights' third long-player, Lucifer, a more professionally recorded album that expanded their sound and included guest vocalizations from their newborn son Mikko. Lucifer in Dub and the house-centric Lucifer Re-Lit followed. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mexican+Summer%22">Mexican Summer</a>, which released Lucifer in America, also issued "More High," a limited non-album 7" single, in 2013. The duo formed a label called <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Two+Flowers%22">Two Flowers</a>, and re-pressed 936 on vinyl. Moving from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Weird+World%22">Weird World</a> to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Domino%22">Domino</a> proper, Peaking Lights released the clearly recorded, beat-minded full-length Cosmic Logic in 2014. Over the next few years, the pair largely kept busy as remixers, with clients and collaborators including <a href="spotify:artist:0ip3L7jX2aq8T1VTJRFZ9w">Sinkane</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5fScAXreYFnuqwOgBsJgSd">the Charlatans UK</a>, Roedelius, and <a href="spotify:artist:4j24CFa4A1jAMKNHrwXV0f">Korallreven</a>. A disco-fied new single, "Conga Blue," appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Two+Flowers%22">Two Flowers</a> in 2016. The song shared a 12" single with "Little Flower" (featuring actress Chloë Sevigny) a year later. Neither song appeared on Peaking Lights' double album The Fifth State of Consciousness, which was released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Two+Flowers%22">Two Flowers</a> in June of 2017.

In 2018, Peaking Lights issued Sea of Sand, one of their most house-influenced releases, on Amsterdam-based dance label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dekmantel%22">Dekmantel</a>. The duo collaborated with dub originator <a href="spotify:artist:1TsG4AumsMt1Tcq2nHpov9">Lee "Scratch" Perry</a> and producer <a href="spotify:artist:1VTUbbnOJdMRuAGlyIMUUP">Ivan Lee</a> on the EP Life of the Plants, which was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stones+Throw%22">Stones Throw</a> in 2019. Having relocated to Amsterdam, Peaking Lights released their sixth full-length, E S C A P E, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dekmantel%22">Dekmantel</a> in 2020. ~ Jason Lymangrover & Paul Simpson, Rovi