TROPICS Announces New Single “Ionian Mirage” Out June 25th

Los Angeles-based British musician and electronic producer TROPICS (Chris Ward) returns with his transcendent new single “Ionian Mirage”, out June 25th, and officially announces his forthcoming album Reality Fever, due September 3rd 2025 via his own imprint Modern Entity.

A deeply reflective and textural track, “Ionian Mirage” captures a sun-drenched escapism, born from isolation and emotional unrest. Ward shares:‍

“This song was about wanting to be on the other side of the world. I was lost in memories of the Mediterranean and Ionian Sea while being stuck in Los Angeles, writing my album and navigating a tough moment in life. It’s about trying to refine that spontaneous feeling which can tend to boil up, listen to yourself when your body and your mind want to run away somewhere, with someone.”

Built around a warm and eerie Rhodes loop, Ward layers brushed drums, bass, and psychedelic textures that conjure a dreamy, heat-hazed mirage of summer. A sonic postcard to elsewhere, “Ionian Mirage” balances longing with lush escapism.

The upcoming album, Reality Fever, sees Ward take a grittier, more DIY approach. Written, produced, and composed entirely by him in his LA studio, the album melds indie-rock, post-punk, and experimental electronica with sharpened edges and heavier rhythms. It reflects both sonic freedom and emotional intensity:‍

“This album highlights a lot of emotional states but the focus on this one for me was anxiety, spiralling, social pressure and the intensity of inner monologue that grips you and is hard to silence. I felt thrashing out and making an album with a hard lean on live instruments again a huge therapy for me, especially as I wanted to create something I could blast in the car. That always makes me feel great.”

“Heavy drums and rhythmic strumming on the bass, against all the soundscapes that aim to space you out, and send you somewhere else. I guess it’s a contrast of being chilled / spaced-out but this throbbing underlying angst.”

Reality Fever will feature 10 tracks that oscillate between intimate lyricism and wide-open atmospheres—crafted for both personal catharsis and immersive listening. Fans of James Blake, Toro Y Moi, Mount Kimbie, and Bar Italia will find familiar yet unique textures in Ward’s sonic world.