x/o CA

Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist Veron Xio

As you float across her eerie, enigmatic soundscapes, x/o’s sense of compositional drama is unmistakable: disembodied vocals, static-drenched synth pads and alternately sweet and sinister sound design project you into parallel digital futures. Veron draws her inspiration from anime/role playing game soundtracks and 1990s R&B heroines. Cocoon Egg (2017), her compelling debut EP draws listeners in with swirls of percussive static, and a constant oscillation between abrasiveness and ethereality, played out over the course of an intensely personal sonic journey. Cocoon Egg’s release coincided with her globally dispersed record label-cum-collective-slash-platform Quantum Natives being featured on the cover of British avant-garde music bible The Wire. She also soundtracked Jonathan Zawada’s METAMATHEMAGICAL, a projection-mapped artwork lighting up the sails of the Sydney Opera House as part of the Vivid Sydney Light, Music & Ideas Festival.