17 tracks, almost no beat and a two-letter name: the return of John Talabot

Barcelona's John Talabot has announced his first solo album since 2012's ƒIN — under a new alias, OR. Music for Empty Stadiums is out on 30 October on London label AD 93: seventeen tracks, nearly an hour and a half of music, almost no beat. Lead single Nokik Messiah is already available.

The artist has posted the record on his own page on Bandcamp.

The two letters in the name are the initials of Oriol Riverola, the man behind John Talabot — and also the Catalan word for “gold”. And the “empty stadiums” are no metaphor: during the 2020 lockdown he would walk to the deserted office of his label Hivern Discs and blast music there at full volume.

Where this sound came from

Making dance music at the time felt pointless, and the “home ambient” flooding the streaming services didn't inspire him. So, according to the label's press text, he did the opposite — fast, bright, almost beatless music: dozens of sketches over a few months, which he then put away in a drawer. What brought them back was a chance email from Nic Tasker of AD 93, who was collecting music written during the pandemic for NTS Radio.

“What could the most euphoric possible version of ambient sound like?” — that, according to AD 93's press text, is how Riverola framed the task for himself.

The tracks on the record run in the order they were made — like a diary — while mixing and mastering took more than a year and a half. Music for Empty Stadiums will be the hundredth release in the AD 93 catalogue; alongside the digital edition there will be a double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve and a limited-edition gold double vinyl — the physical formats will arrive in November.

Since ƒIN, Talabot has released only the collaborative record The Night Land (2017) with Axel Boman as Talaboman and a couple of singles from the same duo in 2023. Solo — nothing. Resident Advisor calls the new record the first release under the OR name — and the first solo one since ƒIN.

“Music for Empty Stadiums is not a new John Talabot album. But it is a new album from John Talabot,” reads the release from label AD 93.

Who is John Talabot

John Talabot is Oriol Riverola from Barcelona, a producer and DJ and the founder of the label Hivern Discs (2008). His debut ƒIN became one of the defining records of European deep house and Balearic music of its decade and made Resident Advisor's list of the best albums of 2000–2025. He makes a point of never showing his face.

OR is not his first alias: there have been Talaboman, D.A.R.Y.L. and others. But this is the first time a full album is coming out under a new name — and the first time the dancefloor master deliberately strips the beat out of his music, leaving only the euphoria.

Earlier we wrote about how Mele released his debut album after fifteen years under a pseudonym — another story about a name to hide behind.