Long-haul flight? Skip the Merlot and melatonin, and try this ambient mix from Zero 7’s Mr Sam Hardaker
Alcohol (or perhaps something a little stronger) is often the go-to medicine for coping with a long-haul flight. This is not always the best way to prepare for a trip if you want to feel fresh when you hit terra firma. Instead, we asked Mr Sam Hardaker, one half of Zero 7, to create a relaxing playlist – the perfect cure for everything from cabin noise to insomnia.
Now known as pioneers of various electronic genres, the duo – comprising Messrs Hardaker and Henry Binns – began their career on the less creative side of the studio glass, as engineers at London’s RAKstudios. After relocating behind the mixing desk, their 2001 debut LP Simple Things yielded not only a Mercury Prize nomination (alongside Radiohead and winner PJ Harvey, when the award meant something, man), but iconic tracks such as “Give It Away” and “In the Waiting Line” became fixtures on noughties mixes and sundown sets and are still sampled to this day. Three studio albums later (2009’s Yeah Ghost being their most recent) and the pair have matured from “chill-out” to well-respected purveyors of sophisticated electronica – veterans of their craft, if you will – while helping to launch the now astronomic career of their go-to vocalist Sia along the way (anyone heard “Chandelier”?).
With EP3 out now on Make Records – featuring “Last Light”, a collaboration with José González the duo expect to drop their fifth studio album later in the year. Until then, check out how Mr Hardaker switches into Airplane Mode, below, and then head over to Spotify to download his playlist.
