Debut release from Alice Okada

Coming out of Portland, Oregon, newcomer Alice Okada is an artist and producer who’s ready to make an impact in the electronic music sphere in 2026. In a city known for its creativity, Alice brings an intriguing sonic vision to the fabric of experimental electronic music, exploring the world of intelligent drum and bass. She only began exploring the genre a year ago but her grasp of its nuance feels truly seasoned; Alice seems more interested in what happens between the beats, in the emotion that forms beneath the driving forward motion.

Her music takes cues from artists like Shy FX and Congo Natty but channels those influences into something warmer, more cinematic and highly original. Making her official artistic entrance with her debut EP titled Liquid, Or Jungle?, she steps out with a sound that’s at once complex and euphoric, a bright fusion of rhythm and enveloping sound design that captures the heart of drum and bass while bending it into something wholly her own.

Liquid, Or Jungle? lands as an introduction to an artist who listens as carefully as she creates, offering an EP crafted in the intimate setting of her bedroom studio, a space that mirrors the reflective quality of her sound. Both tracks on the release flow with slick sound design and atmosphere, balancing skittering percussion with soft, immersive textures. It’s music made for both movement and meditation, a contrast that ripples throughout the best moments of drum and bass music, where rhythm and emotion collide.

Opening with “Liquid, Or Jungle?,” the soft sweep of woozy synth textures forms a dreamy scene as the off-beat rattle of percussive shots is met by the rolling energy of lively shaker and intricate drums to craft a shifting drum and bass soundscape. Flowing with spacey instrumental tones and intricate percussive punch, the smooth ebb and flow sees the drums drop out to build the arrangement up. Gliding through moments of vocal sample-led vibes and passages capped by the bright flicker of airy synth flickers as the stutter of drums rolls throughout, it’s an epic showcase of Alice Okada’s fiercely creative sound and production panache.

With “Is DnB Really Intelligent?,” she casts a hazy scene of mesmeric synth flutters, taking the listener on a transportive sonic voyage as the pulse of bass and shuffle of drums injects steady energy. Progressing with jittery drum patterns and warm bass grooves, the track floats through stripped back bliss to reach a jazz-inflected aesthetic where colourful brass tones ring out above the plucks of organic bass notes, dashed with flashes of subtly moody key tones. It’s another incredible slice of Alice Okada’s truly unique and thoroughly enjoyable drum and bass vision that firmly plants her on the map of must watch producers on the rise.

Liquid, Or Jungle? captures the sound of an artist finding her footing and in doing so, discovering her voice. Alice’s blend of exquisite production and arrangements packed full of twists and turns makes her debut feel like the start of something thrilling and we can’t wait to see what she’s got in store next on what’s sure to be her breakout year. As she continues to develop her sound, Alice Okada stands ready to become one of intelligent drum and bass’s most intriguing new voices as an artist with a sound that’s experimental yet accessible and entirely her own.

Listen to Liquid, Or Jungle? below