Keep Shelly In Athens - Philokalia (2017)

With an air of mystique, Greece-based Keep Shelly in Athens (a pun on Kypseli, the Athens neighborhood they originated from) combine ambient bedroom electro-pop, chillwave, and Ibiza house music influences to create a uniquely somber take on downtempo dream pop. The boy/girl duo of RΠЯ and Sarah P. formed in 2010; their debut EP, In Love with Dusk, was released by Forest Family, the label run by Gorilla vs. Bear and Weekly Tape Deck, and it became a blog hit. It was followed in 2011 by Our Own Dream, a 12" EP on the same label, and cassettes on Sixteen Tambourines Records and Loud and Quiet Cassettes (the latter being a split EP with a then-unknown Disclosure) also arrived that year. Planet Mu released the group's third vinyl EP, Campus Martius, at the year’s end. The group began touring internationally with a four-piece lineup, including an appearance at the 2012 Coachella festival, and accumulated a portfolio of remixes and guest appearances, including reworks or collaborations with Tycho, Porcelain Raft, and MMOTHS. Forest Family reissued the duo's first two EPs as an LP in 2012, and they signed with Cascine Records for the release of their proper debut album, At Home, which arrived in 2013. In January of 2014, vocalist Sarah P. announced her departure from Keep Shelly in Athens; two months later, Myrtha became the group's new singer. The retooled lineup's first recording was Now I'm Ready, released in October of 2015 by the Los Angeles-based Friends of Friends label. ~ Jason Lymangrover & Paul Simpson.