16 Underground formed in early 2022 out of a spirit of experimentation. The four Los Angeles-based musicians, whose musical backgrounds vary (but, notably, veer into hardcore/punk territory), wanted to push their creative limits by delving into sounds and textures that weren’t accessible through their previous projects—a new sonic palette inspired more by vintage trip-hop, ambient music, and electronic pop than the guitar-based modes they cut their teeth on.
“Without a Trace”, due out August 14 via Sunday Drive Records, was produced in collaboration with Max Epstein (Photographic Memory, Car Underwater). The band’s sophomore effort leans into a sound that still resonates in today’s dreampop landscape while also reflecting the retro radio influences to which the group pays homage. Synths swirl in stereo while lo-fi trip-hop backbeats churn. Keyboards gesture at times towards loungey jazz; guitars towards emo and shoegaze. Subsonic bass frequencies throb; digital artifacts and samples blip and whisper. Amidst it all, the ethereal, melodic vocals lull the listener into a state of bittersweet bliss.