From Glitch-Hop to Microbreaks and Harmonic Dub: IfANS makes a striking statement on this first unveiling
The first major album of 2026 on Out Yer Box is this beauty from newly discovered talent IfANS. The artist name of Daniel Ifans, who is also an award-winning digital artist, IfANS has crafted an absorbing, immersive, emotive body of work that covers the spectrum from glitch-hop to coldwave to harmonic dub to microbreaks — and many points in between.
His work explores opposites — contentment and anger, utopia and dystopia, the ambient and the heavy — a reflection of our polarised world. The album tracks themselves evoke cinematic images. Album opener “Towers” mimics a dystopian landscape straight out of the minds of sci-fi novelists such as Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick and William Gibson. “There Is Sunlight” is brighter and more positive, harmonies overlapping, while “Gazelle” is a lament for Gaza, the lands in the Middle East levelled by Israeli forces in the most brutal genocide for a generation. IfANS has produced visualisers for most of the tracks on the albums, and the one for ‘Gazelle’ is especially clever and affecting. Check social media for more.
Much of “THE fALLING WAVE” was written in the wake of IfANS’s mother’s death, seeking solace out of the sadness and remembering some good times. It brings heightened emotional poignancy to the body of work. So while “Nothing To See Here” pivots around a roving bassline, with angelic voices offsetting the glitchy breaks, “Selene” — featuring Peter Anguria on vox — is sadness personified. “We Stand” is a diffuse manifesto that’s a topical defence of democracy, the words spoken by Roman philosopher Cicero 2000 years ago emerging amongst a dubwise beatscape. The title track is like a Warp “Artificial Intelligence” piece from the ambient 90s – and on it goes. “Opposite Sides” uses field recordings and generative sounds, like snippets of an underwater prayer, which morphs into a 4/4 microhouse pulse. “Now You Are Gone” revisits a Warp 90s sound, while “Beaufort” is again more discursive and driving. It’s down to closing track “Helvillon” to square the triangle — dawn breaks on a desolate seashore before the longing voice of Matty Eeles provides a purgatory torch song that guides you towards the light. This is leftfield music of quality and distinction.
IfANS is also an award-winning digital artist whose work has been shown at Raindance, Cannes, and beyond. These twin talents collide in his live a/v sets — having supported pioneering acts such as Faithless and Leftfield.
Growing up around Bristol during the DIY free party era, IfANS is shaped by that culture. In his own words, he “landed on Planet Earth at exactly the right time and place” — as electronic music, the digital revolution, and party culture exploded simultaneously. He went on to create live visuals and music videos for artists as diverse as Fatboy Slim, Richard Ashcroft, Alice Russell and Submotion Orchestra, and was the first to shoot 360° immersive video at Fabric and Ministry of Sound.
Alongside his a/v work, IfANS — aka Daniel Ifans — is the founder of award-winning creative agency We Are Tilt. Everything he has learned from that world feeds directly into his live shows.
“THE fALLING WAVE” is available now. Stream it here.
