elkka
Born and raised in Cardiff, Wales, producer and DJ Elkka built her sound on warm, euphoric, and upbeat electronica, landing her first major single with 2021’s “Burnt Orange.” Debuting with the 2016 EP HER, she moved through the 2010s and 2020s with a series of EPs as well as launching the label and collective femme culture, through which she runs a series of queer club nights and the EP series HeForShe in aid of UN Women. Her full-length debut Prism of Pleasure arrived in 2024.
Though beginning her career as a pop-driven songwriter, Cardiff’s Emma Kirby found her calling instead in electronic music, having been inspired by the work of artists including Imogen Heap and Laurie Anderson. Shifting from session work to production in 2016, the producer took up the moniker Elkka and launched femme culture, a record label, artist collective, and party series prioritizing an inclusive dancefloor. She released her debut EP, HER, on the label in November 2016.
Delivering a warm, hybrid style of electronica -- and using her own evocative vocals to ground her anthems -- Kirby moved into 2018 with a series of radio shows before issuing the uplifting “Stay (Warm Edit)” and second EP Full Circle. The thoughtful, euphoric core to her sound continued over her third EP, Every Body Is Welcome (2019), before 2021’s “Burnt Orange” became the producer’s first breakout single. The remainder of 2021 proved a landmark year for the producer: alongside issuing two vibrant EPs on Technicolour, Euphoric Melodies and Harmonic Frequencies, she won BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix of the Year award, the Association of Independent Music’s Best Independent Remix award (for a remix of Ela Minus’ “Megapunk”), and was nominated for DJ Mag’s Best Breakthrough Producer.
Taking somewhat of a left turn towards the faster-paced and more dancefloor-driven directions of her 2021 work, Elkka issued “I Just Want to Love You” in 2022 before setting to work on her own instalment of iconic compilation series DJ-Kicks; the 28-track DJ-Kicks: Elkka landed in April 2023. The roll-out for her long-anticipated debut album came with the 2024 singles “Passionfruit” and “Make Me,” before Prism of Pleasure arrived in June 2024.
© David Crone /TiVo
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Discography
34 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Prism of Pleasure
Electronic - Released by Ninja Tune on 7 Jun 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
DJ Friendly (Chloé Robinson + DJ ADHD Remix)
Electronic - Released by Ninja Tune on 12 Dec 2023
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
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Stranger (feat. Elkka)
Electronic - Released by Play It Again Sam on 17 Jun 2024
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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I Just Want To Love You
Electronic - Released by Ninja Tune on 20 Sep 2022
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
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DJ-Kicks: Elkka
Electronic - Released by !K7 Records on 26 Apr 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Euphoric Melodies
Electronic - Released by Technicolour on 21 May 2021
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Harmonic Frequencies
Electronic - Released by Technicolour on 19 Nov 2021
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Make Me (Sofia Kourtesis Remix)
Electronic - Released by Ninja Tune on 5 Feb 2025
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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Burnt Orange
Electronic - Released by Technicolour on 23 Mar 2021
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
I Just Want To Love You (Club Version)
Electronic - Released by Ninja Tune on 7 Dec 2022
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
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Air Tight (Regularfantasy Remix)
elkka, Dot Major, regularfantasy
Electronic - Released by Ninja Tune on 20 Feb 2025
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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Hands (DJ-Kicks)
Electronic - Released by !K7 Records on 23 Mar 2023
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
On (Elkka Remix)
Electronic - Released by Smalltown Supersound on 7 Jun 2021
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Every Body Is Welcome
House - Released by femme culture on 29 Nov 2019
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo