Founded in 2010 by Moscow-based producer Anton Zap, Ethereal Sound sits in that rare category where the sound is instantly recognisable. Not because it repeats itself, but because it’s so clearly tuned: hazy chords, low-slung bass, soft percussion, and an unforced sense of forward motion. Deep house that doesn’t demand attention, but that seeps into a room rather than trying to dominate it.
In the story of modern deep house, 2010 wasn’t just another year – it was a golden year. The genre’s revival stopped being a niche conversation and became a genuine movement, with a new international language forming in real time. You could hear it in record stores and in the clubs: deeper, slower, warmer, more patient and pensive. Records that worked at 3AM and at home the next day, where the details mattered as much as the groove.
Labels were doing serious heavy lifting. Hamburg-based Smallville Records went on a huge run, releasing essential records from STL, Moomin, Christopher Rau, Jacek Sienkiewicz, Sven Tasnadi, Dimi Angélis, Jeroen Search, Move D and Benjamin Brunn – a catalogue that still feels like a blueprint. Around the same time Dial, founded by Lawrence and Carsten Jost, cemented its own version of the deep continuum, releasing key work from Pantha Du Prince, Sten, Lawrence, Efdemin, Roman Flügel, and John Roberts. Where Smallville often felt sunlit and more playful, Dial was sleek, nocturnal and quietly monumental.
It’s in that wider ecosystem that Anton Zap’s rise makes sense – and it’s what makes Ethereal Sound so relevant. Zap’s first records surfaced around 2007, but he was no newcomer. Born in Moscow in 1979, he was a vinyl head early on, collecting wax from a young age. In the mid-90s he joined Moscow’s underground lounge group Tetris, led by Vlad Lozinsky. He studied Chinese for seven years, completed a two-year sound engineering course, and by the late 90s was already deeply embedded in the city’s club culture.
Zap’s development wasn’t built on mythology, but on hours. He was resident DJ at Moscow’s legendary Propaganda club from 1997–2005, a stretch that sharpened both his taste and discipline. During those years he honed a serious love for soulful American house, disco, funk and gospel – the roots behind the warmth in his productions. Even when his tracks drift into abstraction, you can still hear the DJ in them: music shaped by knowing what makes people stay on a floor, what makes a room soften rather than peak.
After Propaganda he formed Papaztrio with Pavel Hotin and Yuriy Shulgin, hinting at a broader musical language beyond the club. But his major turning point arrived in a very 2000s way: Zap connected with Edward McKeithen aka DJ Jus-Ed via MySpace, which led to releases on Underground Quality. Those records brought him to the attention of record buyers, press and shops alike. His self-titled UQ debut ‘Anton Zap EP‘ remains one of the label’s best: deeply dubbed, hypnotic, and strangely comforting. From there came releases on Uzuri, Quintessentials, Millions Of Moments, and more – labels that defined this era.
It’s also worth remembering how quickly the story escalated. Zap’s international debut took place at Berlin’s Panorama Bar in January 2009, and later that year he played the Underground Quality label night at Berlin’s Tape Club alongside the likes of Levon Vincent, DJ Qu, Fred P (Black Jazz Consortium) and Nina Kraviz. Still, he remained rooted in Moscow, continuing to DJ and bringing international guests into the city’s circuit. His success wasn’t hype-led – it was community-led.
By the time Ethereal Sound launched in 2010, it felt like less of a “new label” and more like a world finally being named. The labels first release, Anton Zap – I Get No Kick From Champagne [ES-001], arrived fully formed: classy, hazed-out, quietly emotional. Zap’s deep house didn’t peak – it hovered, swayed and drifted.
Little White Earbuds described Zap’s productions as authentic, fluid and “dreamy… aquatic… without a trace of forced behaviour.” That phrase gets to the core of Ethereal Sound. The label is deeply committed to non-performance. Nothing is overcooked. No drama for the sake of it. The most important details are microscopic – a shift in chord tone, a soft reverb trail, the way the bassline seems to breathe rather than thump. Ethereal Sound is deep house built for the long run, where the mood stays intact even as the dance floor changes around it.
This is where the imprint stands apart from a lot of deep house. Atmosphere isn’t decoration – it’s the structure. These records function perfectly in the club, especially late, but they also work in headphones, on journeys, at home, or in that post-night-out liminal zone where time slows down.
The label’s international reach only strengthened its identity. Ethereal Sound became a curatorial platform for artists who shared the same emotional temperature – regardless of geography: Vakula, Christopher Rau, Miruga, Tommy Finger Jr., Area (aka M50), Tom Ellis, plus a strong core of Russian artists including DJ Djungl, Myown, PJOTR, Chizh, Nocow, Eject Project, Yuri Shulgin and Garben Eden. It wasn’t “Moscow deep house” so much as a global deep dialect: understated but physical, minimal but rich.
There are standout releases, of course – cornerstones that summarise the label’s appeal. The debut remains a defining statement. Anton Zap – Keep On Moving [ES-007] is Ethereal Sound at its most refined: hypnotic and tender without ever becoming sentimental. Anton Zap – Clarksville [ES-018] demonstrates his longform mastery – the art of maintaining momentum through almost invisible movement.
Water [ES-008] is another key chapter in two forms: first as an Ethereal Sound EP in 2011, later expanded into a longer Apollo compilation-style release in 2013 (R&S’s sub-label), a move that effectively canonised Zap’s work as album-length listening. In both forms, Water captures the essence of Ethereal Sound – patient drift, submerged groove that feels as deep as the Mariana Trench.
By 2012, change was already in the air. Zap released SH2000 – Good News [ES-022] as a 10” on Ethereal Sound – an early signal that another identity was forming inside the label’s universe, hinting at new directions beyond his signature deep house.
In 2013, Ethereal Sound’s vinyl story reached its closing point with Area – Pop Art [ES-026], the label’s final record on wax. It’s a fitting last word: understated, confident, deeply tasteful. But crucially, that wasn’t the absolute end of the imprint. After Pop Art, Ethereal Sound continued in a lower-profile mode, releasing digital-only music into 2014, including releases from Tom Ellis, Dan Mela, Biepang, Lazzich, Yuri Shulgin and Miruga. It’s part of what makes the label feel real: not a sudden disappearance, but a gradual drift into quieter waters.
Zap’s next shift made sense. He increasingly focused on work as a mastering engineer, a role that suits his strengths perfectly. Ethereal Sound was always about micro-detail and restraint – mastering is simply that instinct turned into craft. In 2014 he launched Volking Music, pushing the SH2000 identity further in a new context, a proper reset rather than a continuation.
And now, suddenly, the story is active again. Zap has announced a new release: Analog Drift EP – a modular-driven, hi-res digital three-tracker promising raw textures and darker, more adventurous electronics. It’s not a return to the Ethereal Sound deep house template – and that’s exactly why it’s exciting. Zap isn’t revisiting the past. He’s moving forward, but still drifting in his own way.
Ultimately, Ethereal Sound matters because it proves deep house doesn’t need spectacle to be intense. Sometimes intensity is a bassline that rolls like tidewater. Sometimes it’s a chord that lingers long enough to shift the emotional climate of a room. Ethereal Sound whispers – and in doing so becomes unforgettable.
To celebrate that legacy, Inverted Audio Record Store currently has four essential Ethereal Sound releases available:
AREA – INNATE OBSCURITY [ES-003] → LISTEN & BUY
Three tracks drifting between techno, minimal, deep house and IDM, all delivered with Ethereal Sound’s trademark subtlety. The standout is Tiny Moments, a blissful downtempo cut that leans into pretty, off-grid IDM softness without losing its low-end weight – a reminder of how far the label could stretch while staying true to its mood.
ANTON ZAP – KEEP ON MOVING [ES-007] → LISTEN & BUY
The epitome of Ethereal Sound. The A-side glides with classic deep house warmth and effortless momentum, while the B-side “38” is one of Zap’s finest productions – exquisitely deep, buoyant and emotional, with floaty pads and playful drums that feel like they’re moving through water rather than air.
TOMMY FINGER JR. – INTO YOU [ES-025] → LISTEN & BUY
A beautifully off-centre Ethereal Sound entry: one original plus two remixes, including versions by Afrika Sciences and Kotzilla. The result is a record that blurs deep house, techno spirit and modern electronic abstraction – romantic but tough, and unmistakably part of the label’s world.
AREA – POP ART [ES-026] → LISTEN & BUY
The label’s final vinyl release, and a perfect closing statement. Chicago’s Area delivers glitchy, abstract techno-house: skewed rhythms, fractured textures, and a sense of machine funk that still feels strangely intimate. It doesn’t end Ethereal Sound with drama – it ends it with taste.
