British-born, LA-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Tropics (aka Chris Ward) is back with a mesmerizing new track — Cherry, released via his own imprint Modern Entity. The single marks the fourth offering from his upcoming album ‘Reality Fever,’ arriving September 3rd, 2025, and acts as a sonic detour — a soft, meditative shift in pace that catches you mid-drift.
Where his last single Ionian Mirage warmed us up with coastal dreaminess and Rhodes-drenched nostalgia, Cherry dives headlong into lush, atmospheric territory. It’s a purely instrumental moment of reflection — a shimmering, downtempo blend of ambient textures and retro-futurist synths that bridges the first half of the album to the next. Think of it as the ambient breath you didn’t know you needed, right before things spiral back into the heavier, beat-driven headspace Tropics is known for.
“This track was aimed to be a chugging yet hypnotic and blissed-out palette cleanser halfway through the forthcoming album,” says Ward. “It flips the tone from the initial heavy singles — we’re turning to the B-side now, more ambient, more introspective. Cherry pulls together those early chillwave textures but gives them a whole new edge.”
Entirely self-produced and recorded in his LA studio, ‘Reality Fever’ explores the tensions between chaos and clarity, escape and confrontation. Through ten tracks, Ward taps into the emotional undercurrent of modern life, weaving post-punk basslines, ambient washes, and experimental electronics into a sound that’s both intimate and cinematic.
“There’s this push and pull — you’re spaced out in the textures, but there’s always something darker and more rhythmic throbbing underneath,” he explains. “That’s where Reality Fever lives.”
Fans of artists like Mount Kimbie, Toro Y Moi, James Blake, or Bar Italia will find familiar ground here — but ‘Reality Fever’ brings its own energy to the table: expansive, emotionally raw, and impossible to pin down.
If Cherry is your first taste, prepare for the full immersion this September.
Listen to Cherry on Spotify and YouTube
Follow Tropics on Instagram: @tropics._
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