September 25, 2026 |
Familiar. It’s a word that can feel like a warm embrace, a distant memory, or a slightly awkward encounter with someone you thought you’d left in the past. For Jennifer Loveless, it’s all of the above. The Berlin-based DJ, producer and multidisciplinary artist is stepping into a new chapter with Familiar, her debut album for Running Back Incantations, arriving October 9. A record about time, memory and the strange business of revisiting people, places and feelings that have changed since you last encountered them, it finds Loveless exploring the many versions of ourselves that can exist at once. Accompanied by a series of poems written alongside the album, Familiar is designed to be taken in from beginning to end, with seven tracks that move through the emotional terrain of looking back, letting go and finding your way forward.
Across her work, Loveless has demonstrated a versatility that spans the cheeky and the contemplative, the delicate and the driving. Her discography includes releases on labels such as Sex Tags UFO, Planet Euphorique, Butter Sessions and AUS Music. Her turbo-charged DJ sets, which thread together speedy techno, cherry picked acid house and a sprinkling of delightfully random samples (one Sydney crowd saw Loveless spin out a remix of the Vengaboys We Like to Party (The Vengabus)), have taken her to festivals and clubs far from her Aussie homestead including Dekmantel, Sónar, Panorama Bar and Fabric.
When she’s not behind the decks, she’s just as happy in a body of water, buried in a book or being on the sofa with her girlfriend and cat. That reflective sensibility finds its way into her music, too, where gradual builds and immersive, layered beats and twinkling instrumentals can carry you somewhere entirely different before you even realise you’ve left. We caught up with Loveless for ten questions on musical beginnings, summer highlights, dance-floor revelations and the freedom of being familiar with yourself.
1. Describe your new LP in three words.
Honest, visceral, contemplative.
2. What was the first record that made you want to become a DJ and producer?
Lady Blacktronika – Never Everything or Caribou – Our Love.
3. What’s been the highlight of your summer so far?
Hmm, hard to pick. My first time at Gottwood, which I really loved. Returning to Gala for the On Loop stage was super nice too, as were Dekmantel and Lost Village. It’s been a nice summer : )
4. When you’re not DJing or making music, where are we most likely to find you?
In a body of water, in a book, at the bar or being a vegetable on the couch with my girlfriend and cat.
5. What’s one track you’ve been playing obsessively lately?
6. Is there a particular city or dance floor that always brings out your best sets?
Hmm, I wish I had this formula down, but I am fortunate enough to be surprised by my best sets coming out in a variety of scenarios.
7. What’s your favourite track on the new LP?
I was listening to this again, top to bottom, to answer this question, and I wasn’t really able to pick. But I do think it’s best listened to in one sitting, all the way through.
8. What’s on your rider?
Coconut water, bananas, lime, soda water, tequila gold and/or a bottle of natural wine.
9. What’s the first track on the LP you’d play to someone who’s never heard your music before?
SSK4.
10. The LP lands on 9 October. What do you hope people feel when they hear it from start to finish?
Free.
Photography by Lu Devrall.
