Floating Points is Sam Shepherd, the Manchester-born producer and DJ with a neuroscience PhD who moves between club music and contemporary classical. Promises (2021) — one 46-minute piece with Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra — is essential; Crush (2019) shows the dancefloor side. Explore Floating Points vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Sam Shepherd, performing as Floating Points, was born in Manchester on July 8, 1986. He simultaneously pursued music and an extensive academic career in neuroscience, completing a PhD on epigenetics. He launched his recording career in the late 2000s and co-founded Eglo Records with Alexander Nut. His landmark 2021 album Promises - a single 46-minute composition recorded with saxophonist Pharoah Sanders (one of Sanders' final recordings before his 2022 death) and the London Symphony Orchestra - is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed jazz and contemporary classical crossover albums of the 21st century.
Floating Points' sound combines electronic, jazz fusion, electronic dance music, contemporary classical, and ambient with extensive use of synthesizers, modular synth, jazz harmony, and orchestral arrangement. His work bridges contemporary electronic dance music, broken beat and London jazz revival, and contemporary classical music traditions.
Pluto, Ninja Tune, and Luaka Bop pressings of the Floating Points catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings. Promises in particular has had extensive collectible deluxe pressings.
Listeners new to Floating Points typically start with Promises (2021) or Crush (2019).
