Growing up in Melbourne, on Australia’s west coast, Sakini found music through piano, but she veered away in pursuit of academic work. As she began her career as a copywriter, she started to make music and mixtapes on the side, for nothing other than her own pleasure. While she enjoyed music, she didn’t want to “give it away if it is not wanted,” she says, but she found herself inundated with booking requests. Because there was clearly more demand for her music than for her skills in other fields, she decided to pursue it more readily.

In 2015, Sakini relocated to London, craving fresh musical input. It was a strange time to leave because her reputation in Melbourne was growing; she was DJing around the city around a couple of times each week, compiling mixes for local magazines like Careful, and co-curating Day Care, a Sunday afternoon event promoting non-club music. Slowly and steadily, London shaped her into a song-writer and producer, and she released her debut EP, Figures, in collaboration with poet Lucy Van in 2017.

In the years since, Sakini has drifted between London and Melbourne but the drive to produce has gripped her. It took until 2020 for things to speed up, beginning with Vivienne, on Total Stasis, and rolling through Your Day Is My Night, a sonic rumination on romance and and distance. She closed the year with two exclusives on Boomkat Editions, beginning with Strada, an outing in seductive spiritual jazz and trip-hop, and then Into the Traffic, Under the Moonlight, which expanded on the minimalist palette of Vivienne. Against a backdrop of global chaos, Sakini’s brittle, thoughtful compositions resonate even more deeply. You can file her work alongside her compatriots like CS + Kreme, HTRK, Jonnine.

Sakini recorded her XLR8R podcast this past week at home, and it follows the same vibe as her semi-regular NTS slot. Instead of committing to a genre, sound, or era, it flutters in-between, from jazz, to ambient, to trip-hop, showcasing some of Sakini’s favorite records of past and present. It’s a beautiful collection of emotions and, like Sakini’s productions, it feels tangible and personal. Watch out for the ear-worms that that’ll be sure to catch your attention—including the opener from Bohren & der Club of Gore, a German jazz band Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.