Songs like Bicep: 10 tracks built on rave memory and melancholy

Songs like Bicep sound like a rave remembered the morning after: breakbeats and big synth lines carrying more longing than euphoria, with pitched voices drifting through the mix. Orbital's "Halcyon + On + On," Joy Orbison's "Hyph Mngo" and Overmono's "So U Kno" all work that way, and they're the fastest route into the ten picks below.

Bicep are Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson, childhood friends from Belfast now based in London. Their self-titled debut came out on Ninja Tune in 2017 with "Glue" as its best-known single. Isles followed in January 2021, led by "Apricots," which set samples of Malawian singers and a Bulgarian women's choir over shuffling drums.

What does Bicep sound like?

Bicep's sound starts with UK rave and breakbeat, then slows the feeling down even when the drums stay busy. "Glue" is the clearest example: a skipping beat, a chopped vocal fragment and a long synth line that seems to be looking back at something. The rhythm points at a dance floor, while the melody is closer to a walk home.

Voices in Bicep's music rarely tell a story. On "Apricots" the choir and the singers become the hook, so you respond to the grain and the distance of the sound rather than to any sentence. The mood sits between comfort and loss, and the arrangements build by adding layers and pulling them away instead of relying on one big drop.

Songs like Bicep: 10 picks

1. Orbital, "Halcyon + On + On" (1993). The older blueprint for Bicep's wistful side, with a floating sampled voice and a synth figure that keeps rising without ever turning aggressive.
2. Aphex Twin, "Xtal" (1992). Soft choral pads and a muffled beat give this the blurred, half-remembered quality that Bicep's quieter tracks chase.
3. Underworld, "Rez" (1993). Almost nothing but interlocking synth arpeggios that grow for ten minutes, which makes it the ancestor of the patient build on "Atlas."
4. Burial, "Near Dark" (2007). Crackle, ghostly pitched vocals and skittering drums, heard from outside the club. It's the bleakest pick here and the clearest on rave as memory.
5. Joy Orbison, "Hyph Mngo" (2009). A pitched voice darts around a swinging beat, with the same mix of club energy and ache that "Glue" has.
6. Four Tet, "Angel Echoes" (2010). A chopped vocal loop turns into a percussive instrument, close to how Bicep use voices as texture.
7. Caribou, "Sun" (2010). One word repeated over a steadily thickening groove, a lesson in how much tension a very small vocal idea can carry.
8. Jamie xx, "Gosh" (2015). A looped spoken voice and a climbing high synth line make UK dance history feel personal, which is the Bicep trick in a different accent.
9. Floating Points, "LesAlpx" (2019). Rattling broken beats and raw analog synth tones, for listeners who prefer the harder, more restless side of Isles.
10. Overmono, "So U Kno" (2021). Another pair of British producers working with breakbeats and pitched vocal cuts, and the closest current match for Bicep's balance of drive and yearning.

The best music in this lineage keeps the drums of the rave and the feeling of the walk home after it.

Nova Driftwood songs that fit

Nova Driftwood works in deep house rather than breakbeat, but these tracks from the 2026 album Tide Clock share Bicep's habit of using the voice as texture.

1. Close match: Nova Driftwood, "Afterlight". The lyric is one fractured word, the title broken apart, which lines up with Bicep's use of voices as sound. The album's deep house setting is more restrained than Bicep's rave-sized peaks.
2. Partial match: Nova Driftwood, "Undertow". The hook stutters on the word "under," and being pulled down starts to feel like relief. The bittersweet mood fits, though it stays deep where Bicep usually reach for a lift.
3. Partial match: Nova Driftwood, "Glass Tide". The lyric moves from pressure to release, with "shatter" standing alone as a line. The arc suits Bicep fans, but at a little over two minutes it's a sketch, not a long build.

More artists like Bicep

If the melodies and the melancholy are the draw, try Bonobo, Maribou State, Leon Vynehall and Moderat. If you want more of the club pressure, go to Daniel Avery, Ross From Friends, Mall Grab and Kelly Lee Owens.

Listeners who came to Bicep through the Ninja Tune side of things should start with Bonobo. Listeners who came through festival sets will probably get more out of Overmono and Daniel Avery.

Where to start

Start with "Hyph Mngo" and "So U Kno" for the closest sound, then go back to "Halcyon + On + On" to hear where the feeling comes from. Save "Near Dark" for headphones and a late night. For the house side of this world, read our deep house guide, and if the voices are what you came for, try songs like Fred again...

Key takeaways

1. Bicep's appeal comes from pairing rave-era drums and synths with a mood of longing rather than celebration.
2. Orbital, Aphex Twin and Underworld are the precedents, while Joy Orbison and Overmono are the closest later matches.
3. Voices act as texture on most of these tracks, so the feeling arrives without a story.
4. Nova Driftwood's "Afterlight" is the closest roster fit on vocal approach, in a more restrained deep house setting.

Use one test as you explore: if a track makes you want to dance and also makes you miss something, it belongs with Bicep. Most of these ten do both within the first two minutes.

FAQ

What genre is Bicep?

Bicep make electronic dance music rooted in UK rave and breakbeat, with strong links to house and ambient techno. Their albums Bicep (2017) and Isles (2021) both came out on Ninja Tune.

What artists are similar to Bicep?

Overmono, Joy Orbison, Four Tet, Caribou, Jamie xx, Floating Points and Orbital all share parts of Bicep's sound. Bonobo and Maribou State are good next steps for the more melodic side.

What Bicep song should I start with?

"Glue" (2017) is the best first listen for the skipping beat and wistful synths. "Apricots" (2020) shows how the duo build a track around sampled voices.

Who is Nova Driftwood?

Nova Driftwood is a McCandless Records deep house act from Brooklyn, NY whose debut album, Tide Clock, came out in April 2026. Its sixteen tracks use warm sub-bass, vinyl crackle and chopped vocal textures.