Gold Panda

English electronic artist Gold Panda draws from memories of places and people to conjure up sample-centric beats basking in a warm, nostalgic glow. Derwin Dicker started the project in 2009 by turning techno-inspired loops of digital percussion and samples into effervescent tracks such as “Back Home”. His 2010 debut album, Lucky Shiner, provided a dreamy travelogue, whether Dicker was tinkering with global sounds on songs such as “India Lately” or creating delicate soundscapes on “Same Dream China”. Gold Panda enjoyed major attention for the album’s lead single, “You”, even before Charli XCX sampled it in 2013. Dicker expanded his sound on 2016’s Good Luck and Do Your Best to include explorations of club-ready house and acoustic sketches, though the centre remained in sample-based works like “In My Car”. This sort of sonic comfort anticipated the late-2010s boom in chill lo-fi beats, but Gold Panda applies a personal touch that makes them all the more aching.