Ciel

Born in Xi’an, China and based in Toronto, Cindy Li, known as Ciel, develops a practice that moves between house, techno, breaks, UK bass and downtempo, with a particular attention to light textures, psychedelic atmospheres and mobile rhythms. Active in the Canadian electronic scene since the mid-2010s, Ciel organised her first events in 2015 and released the EP Electrical Encounters in 2017 on Peach Discs. Her trajectory alternates between DJ sets, radio, live performance and productions, while engaging in scene work through Parallel Minds, the Toronto label she co-founded with Daniel 58. Ciel has also pursued several collaborative projects — notably Loopchasers with Priori, Cloudsteppers with Dan Only and Psychedelic Budz with D.Tiffany — which extend her interest in oblique club forms and stylistic crossovers. As a solo artist she released the album Homesick in 2023, a record that blends ambient material, dance motifs and references to families of traditional Chinese instruments. Her sets, also heard via a residency on Rinse FM, often shift from a deep, diffuse register to more direct sequences, sitting between off-centre house, supple techno and bass music.