Digging does not always mean discovery in the sense of the unknown. Sometimes it is about noticing someone operating with clarity inside a language you already understand. I first heard Paul Thomas via a mix he recorded earlier this year for the Chimaera radio show. It was immediately clear that this was someone fluent in experimental and ambient forms, comfortable with negative space, pacing, and restraint. The hook was instant. Not long after, we crossed paths in Spain through shared nights on the dancefloor and on both sides of a DJ booth. His set at this year’s Perpendicular Festival inside La Cabaña was one of the standouts, marked by a calm command of atmosphere and momentum that allowed the room to settle into its own rhythm.

Under the Horizontal alias, Paul Thomas operates as a multidisciplinary artist with a deep interest in the crooked edges of electronic music. As a core member of the Ouroboros crew, he has become part of the more inward-facing currents of the scene. Horizontal represents a fresh pulse, bringing a lightness of touch to music that often leans too heavily on concept. His contribution to "Delayed with" closes our 2025 series. It unfolds with patience, but not passivity. Small shifts accumulate. The mood is tense yet restorative. Unpredictability plays a central role here, not as a gimmick, but as a contract of trust between listener and DJ. This is not background music. Details flicker at the edges, atmospheres thicken, and time stretches in subtle ways that reward full attention. After spending countless hours this year immersed in experimental and ambient listening across many contexts, it felt right to close out 2025 in the same way. Horizontal offers a final chapter that does not conclude so much as open a door, pointing toward other rooms, other journeys, still waiting.


https://soundcloud.com/paul-thomas
https://www.instagram.com/paulthomas_horizontal/

Write up by @gilleswasserman

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Delayed with... Horizontal

Delayed is a collective of like-minded friends, originating in Brooklyn, New York & gradually expanding to various corners of the globe. After establishing itself over the years as a steady source of left-field techno, ambient & experimental electronic music, Delayed has evolved into a multi-faceted platform consisting of weekly premieres, DJ mixes, live recordings, interviews, editorials & launched its own record label, @never-late, in 2023. Regularly collaborating with artists, record labels, collectives, annual festivals & niche gatherings, Delayed provides glimpses into a variety of rich ecosystems & sub cultures around the world. All existing within a thriving underground electronic music scene.

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