ctrl : Elf Traps [UK]

Elf Traps is the new project from Manchester-based musicians Rob Turner (ex–GoGo Penguin) and Liviu Gheorghe (ex–Matthew Halsall) — a collaboration born from creative restlessness and deep friendship. Their sound blends spiritual jazz, glitchy electronics, jungle, ambient, and beyond - weaving influences from Squarepusher, Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid, Buddhism, StarTrek, and the vivid, organic forms of artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Turner’s iconic, glitch-inflected drumming merges with Gheorghe’s textural, expansive synths to create a fresh, immersive sonic landscape. After years of global tours and a Mercury Prize nomination, both musicians wanted a reset. They began meeting for loose, improvised sessions, letting instinct take the lead. The result is Elf Traps: a boundary-free fusion of acoustic drums, synths and live electronics, shaped by spontaneity rather than structure. On stage, live drums and synths are intertwined with drum machines, laptops, samplers, chopped vocal fragments and custom robotic percussion - creating a hypnotic exchange of rhythm, texture and improvisation. The music twists and evolves in real time, moving from meditative ambient passages to explosive, adrenaline-charged rhythmic peaks. No two performances are ever the same.