Polygonia & Simon Popp - Apiformes (2026)

Built on the foundation of recordings from four live concerts, Polygonia & Simon Popp's Apiformes is a seamless blend of the organic and electronic: the two merge into a single being, without any trace of them ever being separate ideas.

Following an introduction by their label Squama Recordings' founder Martin Brugger in 2022, the Munich-based duo quickly connected over their shared musical sensibilities; a year later their first collaborative album, Candid, was released. Apiformes, like Candid, is polyrhythmic, genre-fluid and heavily based in improvisation, but it's rounded out even further by the two's ongoing collaboration.

Apiformes, which takes its name from the Latin root meaning bee, behaves much like the interior of a hive; it's in constant flux, slowing down and speeding up with a spontaneity that is grounded by its logic—a mathematical structure that provides both stability and complexity. Polygonia's whimsical vocals flow throughout, with Popp's percussive rhythms providing a vigorous base.

Featuring glittering synth and Polygonia's atonal vocal, "Superorganism" is as expansive as it is dynamic. "Compound Signal" follows and it offers the kind of sense of adventure and curiosity that's aroused when a new path emerges. Contrast is found in "Recruitment Signal," in which drone-like vibrations search eerily outwards. "Flight Formation" and "Biotic Circuits" are melodic and dense with polyrhythm, lending the listener a glimpse into the inner workings of the (in)organism.

Polygonia (Lindsey Wang) has cited U.K. bass, breakbeat, house, footwork, IDM, ambient, grey area and techno as ongoing influences, while Popp's expensive compositional work has drawn comparisons to Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Together, the duo have shaped their sense of play into an immersive exploration of the natural and the synthetic that is decisive and energetic. © Sonia Chien/Qobuz