Aphex Twin Uploads First SoundCloud Tracks in Two Years: Listen

The influential electronic music producer last posted to SoundCloud in 2023 with a pair of archival tracks.

Aphex Twin has returned to SoundCloud in the most Aphex Twin way possible, dropping two mysterious tracks that have fans scrambling to decode clues.

The long running SoundCloud account user18081971 is widely believed to belong to the electronic music legend, who was born on August 18th, 1971. Both tracks appear to be alternate versions of a single piece titled “Zahl am1 live track 1” and “Zahl am1 live track 1c f760m1 unfinshd.” Fans who follow the account’s unpredictable activity immediately started comparing the mixes, looking for clues about their origin.

Each track includes a short note. The description of the “unfinshd” upload says it had been requested often, came from a Zähl console and references a photo taken in Italy with “my love from Sicily recently.” The influential producer, whose real name is Richard D. James, also hints that other versions may exist and they could surface if he locates them.

The releases follow a quiet stretch for James, who last posted to SoundCloud in 2023 with two archival tracks, though they are no longer available to stream. The sudden return fits the pattern of brief appearances that spark speculation around long buried material, live experiments or hints toward future releases.

James in 2024 released Music From the Merch Desk (2016 – 2023), a compilation of limited-edition singles he’d previously sold on tour, as well as an expanded edition of 1994’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II. In September, Aphex Twin also reissued 1993’s Surfing on Sine Waves, the only album ever credited to his Polygon Window alias

Take a listen to the new tracks below via SoundCloud.