Four Tet Enlists Ellie Goulding for 'In My Dreams'

Four Tet enlists Ellie Goulding for a collaborative, standalone single, “In My Dreams,” out now via Three Six Zero Recordings. The pair previously collaborated on “Baby” from Four Tet’s 2020 album Sixteen Oceans, and the producer also provided a Grammy-nominated remix for Goulding’s 2022 track “Easy Lover.”

Having been teased for fans since late Spring, “In My Dreams” charges out the gate with all the excitement a new Four Tet track warrants. What begins with an aggressive rhythmic loop and wobbly bass slowly unfurls into something more melodic. Bells and chimes soften the track before Goulding soars in, her gliding voice a perfect partner for Kieran Hebden’s typically more subdued oeuvre.

 Four Tet shared his thoughts on the track and how it came to be: “At the end of last year Ellie texted me with a couple of voice notes for a song idea. Words and melodies she was singing into her phone and she asked me if I could use them to make something. She’s told me in the past she likes to send me vocals that I can just use as sound and turn into whatever I want (which is how the track Baby happened a few years ago). I found other sounds to go with it and made In My Dreams. She added some new vocal parts but we ended up keeping the voice note recordings as the main vocal. I guess the first take is often the most magical.”

Next month, Four Tet comes stateside to headline Portola and CRSSD Festivals in San Francisco and San Diego, respectively. Other upcoming performances include an all day set at Warehouse Project in Manchester on October 19th and Drumsheds in London on November 2nd which he will be curating. Earlier this year, he shared his 12th studio album, Three, a milestone which Pitchfork described as “deftly incorporat[ing] virtually every style of music that he’s made over the years.” The album also drew praise from Rolling Stone, Billboard, and The Needle Drop.

Photo Credit: Gracia Villamil