Introduction
Beginnings
Ambient
Downtempo
Chillout

Introduction

Chillout was, until relatively recently, a term used to describe a room or area within a club where you could take time out from the hectic beats and dancing. Now it can also be used to describe a broad range of music; mainly downtempo electronica.

Beginnings

Usually separated from the dancefloor, the "chillout area" started to spring up in clubs following the dance revolution of the early 1990s. Initially, these just contained seating and a lower volume of music, perhaps with a small bar. Someone soon came up with the idea of playing different music in this area to help people relax and chill out. Meanwhile, as house music was developing, some producers slowed down the beats and used synths and samplers to create melodic soundscapes. By 1992 - 1993, artists such as The Beloved and The Orb were producing this sort of material. Some producers started taking the idea further and dropped the beats altogether, concentrating on more minimal, electronic textures. This music became the modern version of "ambient", a term which had been around since the 1970s to describe a sparse and minimal music which blended into the background very easily.

Ambient

The mid 1990s saw a growth period for ambient music, and early chillout rooms began to play this music which fitted in well with the whole notion of a relaxation zone within a club. Ironically, perhaps part of the reason why this music became popular was because the majority of dance music was becoming faster; as the clubs opened later, people couldn't dance solidly all night. Ambient music also merged with other genres such as jungle; in 1994 and 1995, early drum & bass music was basically jungle breakbeats with ambient pads and textures. As the music began to diversify, so did the application of it - a drum & bass club might play ambient drum & bass and downtempo breaks in its chillout room; a house club might play ambient house in theirs.

Ibiza also played a part in the development of chillout music. In its height of popularity as a clubbing holiday destination, UK club promoters would travel over with their DJs and put on sets until sunrise. As people were on holiday and didn't need to go home to prepare for work, a "chillout" DJ might be put on the decks to allow clubbers to unwind as the sun rose, playing slower, gentle electronic music. Whilst early ambient music was fairly experimental, as its popularity grew with clubbers, so its sound became more mainstream.

Downtempo

While all this was going on, some producers were going in a different direction. In 1994, the genre of "trip-hop" emerged as a combination of slowed down breakbeats, hip hop tempo, but without rap. Trip-hop also had elements of drum & bass, ambient and jungle thrown in: it was originally very much a British genre. Bringing this genre to popularity at the time were artists such as Portishead (named after a small town near Bristol), Tricky and Massive Attack. Leftfield, who were primarily a house act at the time, even got in on the act with their "Leftism" album from early 1995.

Trip-hop wasn't necessarily relaxing like ambient music; it was often moody and dark; the one thing it did have in common with ambient music, however, was its slow tempo. An interesting thing about trip-hop is that, while the name of the genre is hardly used today, it was anything but a fad. The name may have been short lived, but the slowed down electronic and sampled beats gradually merged with other genres to such an extent that it no longer was a genre in its own right. Today, pop, rock, dance and even folk artists may use beats that were originally the preserve of trip-hop artists.

Another development was more melodic instrumental electronica. At the end of the 1990s, artists as diverse as 4 Hero and Moby were playing around with incorporating acoustic sounds into electronic styles. 4 Hero's "Two Pages" incorporated orchestral sounds into drum & bass in 1998. Moby's hit album, "Play", cleverly mixed piano, strings and gospel choirs into downtempo dance music. Moby is today sometimes labelled as a "chillout" artist, although those who have listened to his music for long enough will recognise that he defies categorisation.

Chillout

So what is "chillout" music, then? Around the turn of the millennium, people were looking for the next "big thing" to market. Someone decided to take some of the music being played by "chillout" DJs and market it as a "chillout" compilation. By 2001 and 2002, dozens of "chillout" compilations were in high street shops, featuring a mixture of ambient, downtempo, instrumental electronica and trip-hop, with pictures of beaches and sunsets on the covers. Perhaps one of the reasons why chillout covers such a broad range of styles is that, unlike other genres such as trance, people wouldn't normally go to a "chillout" specific club. The chillout music is there to help clubbers get the most out of the other music present. A lot of chillout, especially the ambient variety, is hard or impossible to dance to, so its purpose is more for listening; this makes it accessible to a wider audience than just club-goers.

The future of chillout is guaranteed, but the future of the name is uncertain. It is likely that downtempo electronica will split into a wide variety of individual styles, probably merging with music such as rock, pop, hip-hop and even jazz, to form new types of music.

© John Dalling, 2006

While every attempt is made to ensure the information on this page is correct, the author cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided.