Moody Berlin/London post-punk duo Lea Porcelain features producer Julien Bracht and vocalist/instrumentalist Markus Nikolaus, a pair of musicians and friends who joined forces after finding individual success. Bracht grew up in Spain, France, and Germany, learned to play drums when he was six, and had begun his career as a techno producer by the time he was 16, while Nikolaus forged a solo career as an indie musician and also played with the group the Waves & Us. Nikolaus and Bracht met in 2012 at the famed club Robert Johnson in their hometown of Frankfurt and hit it off, though it took them a year to work together as Lea Porcelain. The duo established themselves at FUNKHAUS, a former Soviet-supervised broadcasting house that was transformed into the world's biggest recording studio, practice space, and performance venue. Lea Porcelain released their debut EP, Out Is In, via Kobalt in April 2016; just over a year later, the full-length Hymn to the Night appeared. ~ Heather Phares