Hertfordshire, England · electronic · downtempo

Maribou State

2 festivals played ↓

Warm, live-instrument house that leans soul rather than club — the kind of set that works equally well at golden hour and at three in the morning.

Chris Davids and Liam Ivory met at school in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and started writing music together as teenagers; a remix commission for Hadouken! at age sixteen was an early break. They began releasing as Maribou State in 2011 with the EP Habitat on FatCat Records, followed by further EPs and singles on Norman Cook's Southern Fried Records.

Maribou State's productions sit between house, downtempo and soul, favouring live instrumentation, guitar and keyboard parts and guest vocals over sample-led club construction. Alongside their own material, the pair built a reputation doing remixes for artists including Fatboy Slim, Lana Del Rey, Ultraísta and Kelis.

Their debut album, Portraits, arrived in 2015 on Ninja Tune's Counter Records imprint and established that approach, built around recurring vocal contributions from Holly Walker, including on the single 'Midas,' later certified platinum.

The follow-up, Kingdoms in Colour, drew on field recordings and instruments gathered while travelling, and included 'Feel Good' with Khruangbin and the single 'Turnmills,' named after a London club that closed in 2008. The album reached number 25 on the UK chart.

They perform both as a DJ pairing and with an expanded live band, having sold out a 2019 UK and European tour that included a show at London's O2 Brixton Academy with a string quartet and choir onstage. A third album, Hallucinating Love, followed in January 2025.

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electronicdowntempo