GAPS

The story of GAPS is one that flows through every electrifying strand of the music, performance and personality that define Brighton duo Rachel Butt and Ed Critchley.

Their singular vision for what music can and should be begins with Rachel’s soulful, folk-tinged vocal and guitar which find a perfect resolution in the immaculately placed loops, repetitions and samples that recall Steve Reich as much as Four Tet and Jon Hopkins.

Ed’s “no frills” production pushes a sublimely nuanced, slow-building drone against a beat that’s organic at heart and even makes room for the drop. The freedom for experimentation comes, he admits, from having no real background in, or reference points for, electronic music.

Few musical relationships in recent years fizz with the same levels of symbiosis and invention that the pair feed off. “I just love the space in music,” says Rachel. “The silence is as important as the rest of it.”

Their sound found a fan in London-born house DJ and producer Maya Jane Coles. A collaboration with Rachel went so well that Coles returned for more, cutting three tracks with GAPS for a joint EP.

In 2015 GAPS became the first act to sign to Maya’s independent label I/AM/ME, releasing their debut album ‘In, Around the Moments’ with support from BBC 6 Music and regular spins from Guy Garvey, Nemone and Lauren Laverne who celebrated lead single ‘A World Away’ as one of her top tunes of 2016.

Seeking wisdom and a deeper understanding, GAPS sought solitude and returned to writing whilst exploring teachings + meditative practices that informed their second album; ‘As It Is’. The album was released on AWAL in 2017, creating space for Rachel to immerse in these practices in communities around the world, and explore the nature of sound as both a form of art and a tool for awakening & embracing life, just as it is.