Born in London's Enfield borough, Loraine James was exposed to music at a young age through her family's far-reaching tastes, from metal to calypso. She released her debut EP, Settle Down, in August 2015, shortly followed by sophomore EP New Year's Substitution on Boxing Day that year. 2016 saw the release of James' first mixtape, Bits and Bob's Your Uncle, alongside the Ambient Troubles EP. She released her full-length Detail on Fu Inle Records in the middle of 2017, dropping the B-sides compilation Not So: Detail later in the year. James signed to Kode9's influential Hyperdub label in mid-2019, in anticipation of her second LP, For You and I. Taking a more free-form approach to her genre-bending IDM, the album was released in September 2019 to rave reviews.
James kicked off 2020 with New Year's Substitution 2, a free EP featuring collaborations with patten, J. Albert, Shapednoise, and others. Two additional EPs and an album of demos and outtakes preceded her second Hyperdub release, Nothing. The EP appeared in October of 2020 and included collaborations with Jonnine Standish (HTRK) and Lila Tirando a Violeta. James' second Hyperdub full-length, Reflection, appeared in 2021, with guests including Baths, Iceboy Violet, and Eden Samara. James released Whatever the Weather, the self-titled debut by her ambient/IDM alias, on Ghostly International in 2022. Building Something Beautiful for Me, based on compositions by Julius Eastman, was issued by Phantom Limb later in the year. ~ David Crone & Paul Simpson, Rovi