Photo by Jen Maler
Out Now, celebrating AAPI Heritage Month – Get it HERE
Out May 1, 2026 in celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, “Hooked On Phonics” is a groove-drenched, kaleidoscopic dive into sampledelic electronic music. Blending echoes of Kraftwerk, Afrobeat, electro house, post-punk, and breakbeat, the track is playful, leftfield and club-ready, appealing to fans of The Avalanches, DJ Koze, Ricardo Villalobos, J Dilla.
The first single from Lui’s forthcoming album Retroism II: There Comes A Darkness, the track features jagged, angular guitar work from Chicago post-punk mainstay Michael Guarrine (Nude Model, Watchers), adding a raw, tactile edge to its layered electronic textures.
The release is complemented by a swinging UK garage remix from Manchester-based duo Cortese, affiliated with Sasha’s Last Night On Earth label and supported by Rinse FM, BBC Radio 1, and Kiss FM, tailor-made for discerning dancefloors.
Widely regarded as one of the more eclectic voices in contemporary electronic music, Lawrence Lui has built a reputation for fusing disparate sounds into a singular, genre-defying aesthetic. His debut EP Retroism amassed over 5 million streams and earned support from tastemaker outlets including Magnet Magazine, The Wire, WFMU, Indie Shuffle, EDM.com, EDM Tunes, Nexus Radio, Big Shot Magazine, and This Song Slaps.
Subsequent releases have continued to push boundaries: a 2018 remix by Anjunadeep’s Beckwith, the ambitious EP The Genius Of Time, blending cosmic techno with Buddhist chanson and experimental songwriting and Isolation Loops, a lo-fi ambient project inspired by the pandemic. His 2023 album 8 Songs further expanded his sonic palette, alongside a wide range of international remixes from artists such as Marko Nastic (Serbia), Julio Victoria (Colombia), Facets (Brooklyn), Sergej Snooze (Croatia) and Cortese (Manchester).
Press quotes on Lawrence Lui:
“Sublime… hauntingly new” – EDM.com
“Spellbinding” – EDM Tunes
“A lo-fi indietronica gem” – Indie Shuffle
“Captivating” – This Song Slaps
“Spine-tingling atonal electronics and hauntologic drone” – The Wire
“A creative musical innovator” – Exron Music
“Overwhelming sound design” – Tome to the Weather Machine
“Hooked On Phonics” and the Cortese Remix are out now.
For more information about Lawrence Lui, go to:
Website | Instagram
Mastered by Michael Gillilan at Giltone
Art direction by Liam L. Martin
Distributed by Symphonic
