ODESZA's Foreign Family Collective and Ninja Tune announce new partnership

01 June 2021 - Press release

Independent record companies Ninja Tune and Foreign Family Collective (FFC) have today announced an exciting new partnership that will see Ninja Tune begin to release, promote and distribute Foreign Family Collective’s incredible and ever-expanding catalogue worldwide. This new venture will see FFC working alongside Ninja Tune to continue to expand the vision of Foreign Family Collective as a global entity supporting musicians and artists alike. 

Beginning June 1 2021, the deal is the culmination of many years of close collaboration between the two like-minded labels, most notably with the release of ODESZA’s Grammy nominated and Gold-Certified “A Moment Apart” album in 2017, a global success story which scored a #3 debut chart position on the Billboard 200 and saw them deliver a show-stealing performance at Coachella, with previous single “Say My Name” also registering over 500,000 sales to date.

“Partnering with Ninja Tune to continue to expand and evolve our vision for FFC is a dream come true. Ninja Tune served not only as an inspiring template for us when we were starting the label, but also a label home and creative partner that has fostered and inspired us since the release of our album “In Return” in 2014. To be able to bring our team at FFC into an even closer dialogue and partnership with the hardworking and innovative team at Ninja Tune is a privilege and we can’t wait to see what amazing things we can achieve for the artists we love that are part of FFC. As an electronic duo starting a label back in 2015 the parallels between what we sought to accomplish and what Coldcut had accomplished with the Ninja Tune orbital were plentiful—we literally couldn’t be happier to continue to learn more from such an experienced team.” - Harrison Mills & Clayton Knight (ODESZA)

““Everyone who works in this industry is, or should be, chasing that indescribable feeling that only music can provide. We experienced that the first time we heard ODESZA's music and we’ve experienced it every step of the way subsequently during our long and successful partnership. To collaborate with them as they seek out that feeling and grow their label and story is truly an honour.

Ambition, talent and a shared ethos have characterised the process of working with Foreign Family Collective successfully on a number of projects already. Therefore it made perfect sense to extend the relationship to cover all FFC releases. We will now, together, be able to focus on amplifying growth for all FFC artists and ensure that the roster benefits from, and is empowered by, the trust and friendship that underpins the FFC/Ninja Tune relationship.“ - Marie Clausen, Head of Ninja Tune North America & Head of Global Streaming

Founded in 2015 by the duo behind acclaimed electronic music outfit ODESZA, Foreign Family Collective made its name in the indie electronic space, releasing music by the likes of  RÜFÜS DU SOL, Big Wild, Jai Wolf, Kasbo, ford., Mild Minds, among many others. Not only a home to many amazing up-and-coming musicians, Foreign Family Collective is also an outlet for visual artists including Victor Mosquera, JapaneseDad, Skytea, Landis Tanaka, and Kusanagi, among others. With a focus on bringing music and visual creatives together, the Collective’s mission is to support emerging artists of all levels and give them a platform to showcase their work. Foreign Family Collective is also known for producing and designing innovative live events, including  ODESZA’s legendary Coachella mainstage performance, pop-up merchandise stores, and SUNDARA, ODESZA’s destination festival in Mexico. Among the labels’ many shared values runs an ethos of encouraging and embracing new technologies for artists and the wider industry alike, with ODESZA’s recent debut NFT drop via Nifty Gateway, a collaboration with Foreign Family Collective visual artist JapaneseDad and Foreign Family Collective’s own drop via Nifty Gateway featuring NFTs by Skytea, Landis Tanaka and JapaneseDad. Upcoming music releases include Golden Features, Phantoms, Gilligan Moss, and NASAYA along with “Rare .wavs Vol. 1” an album of as-yet-unreleased tracks from Jai Wolf, Kasbo, Chrome Sparks, Phantoms, Fakear among many others. In 2020 FFC launched their mix series “Intermission Broadcast” which has included contributions from BRONSON, Chet Porter, SG Lewis, Hayden James, TSHA, Tycho, TOKiMONSTA & More.

Ninja Tune, formed in 1990 by Matt Black and Jon More of Coldcut, is one of the world’s leading independent record labels and a bonafide global music institution. Having grown from the brainchild of two people into an organization with 70+ employees across the world, including its headquarters in London and North American offices in Los Angeles (where the label also currently holds Director Board seats on both the Merlin and A2IM boards). Synonymous with diverse, visionary, and boundary-pushing artists, they have celebrated releases from the likes of Bonobo, Kelis, Jayda G, Bicep, Floating Points, Little Dragon, Sampa The Great, Diplo, Peggy Gou, Julianna Barwick, Jordan Rakei, Maribou State, ODESZA, Leon Vynehall, India Jordan, Marie Davidson, TSHA and — via their longstanding partnership with Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder — Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Ras G, Teebs, Ross From Friends and many more. 

The label has also recently celebrated a number of milestones, including a Grammy nomination for Jayda G and two Top-5 charting albums from Black Country, New Road and Bicep (who are also nominated for two BRIT Awards). The year also saw the relaunch of the Big Dada imprint, which is run by Ninja Tune’s Black, POC, and Minority Ethnic staff for Black, POC, and Minority Ethnic artists. Via the Brainfeeder partnership, the company celebrated Thundercat’s momentous Grammy win and welcomed Hiatus Kaiyote to the label for the release of their new album. In addition, Ninja Tune was honored with a ‘Label of the Year’ nomination at the A2IM Libera Awards, and also recently announced ambitious, industry leading environmental targets that will soon see the company transform to a carbon negative position.