There’s something almost defiant about how Jordana Moon and Tom Aries make music. She’s in Canada, he’s in Germany, and they’ve never met in person. Yet since March 2021, they’ve released 33 tracks across three full-length albums, all crafted through file-sharing and virtual collaboration.
Their latest single, “Balance,” released today, might be their most ambitious yet. At 4:20, the track blends trip-hop, R&B, electro soul, and nu-jazz into something that feels both meditative and transportive. Guest musicians Peter Mitchell on guitar and Joko Magic on saxophone add organic warmth to the electronic foundation.
“We wanted ‘Balance’ to sound like soul floating through a future skyline — sensual, spacious, and glowing with quiet intensity,” the duo stated about their new release.
The track showcases remarkable production restraint. Despite countless layers, nothing feels cluttered or excessive. Moon’s vocals shift from intimate whispers to more expansive moments, while the instrumentation creates what the duo calls their most meditative work yet. The guitar work adds unexpected depth, grounding the ethereal electronics, while the saxophone brings a soulful quality that recalls classic trip-hop acts like Portishead or Morcheeba. Fans of Bonobo and Zero 7 will find familiar territory here, though Moon and Aries carve out their own distinctive space within the genre.
A music video is slated for release by the end of September, continuing their collaboration with visual artist Carainaae, who creates exclusively painted and designed visuals for the duo. It’s another example of their commitment to handcrafted artistry across all mediums.
This approach isn’t accidental. Moon and Aries craft each track with sync licensing in mind — building songs with strong emotional arcs, memorable hooks, and dynamic instrumental sections specifically designed for visual storytelling. They’re targeting placements in films, television shows, advertising, and video games, viewing themselves as soundtrack writers for narratives that haven’t been filmed yet. Their music naturally fits dramas, romantic comedies, sci-fi narratives, fashion campaigns, mental health-focused storytelling, and automotive advertising.
The strategy appears to be working. Their track “FIRENIGHT” reached number one on official DJ-pool charts in the USA. “Traffic” appeared on the GOA CHILLOUT ZONE VOL. 13 compilation that hit Top 3 on Amazon’s Best Sellers & Hot New Releases charts in both the UK and Germany. In November 2023, they won Band of the Year at the OGIMA Music Awards. Their 2022 debut “The Arrival” generated over one million Spotify streams for its title track alone.
Their discography reveals a consistent conceptual ambition. “The Arrival” introduced their sound with nine tracks exploring themes of emergence and discovery. “Break the Matrix” (2023) pushed boundaries further with another nine-song collection. Their most recent full-length, “TRANSCENDENCE” (2024), expanded to twelve tracks — one for each month of the year — released on September 6, 2024.
What sets them apart in an increasingly AI-driven industry is their commitment to entirely human composition. No algorithmic generation, no artificial intelligence in their writing process — everything is, as they put it, “handmade.” At a time when music creation tools increasingly rely on machine learning and automated production, their stance feels both principled and practical. They’re betting that human creativity still matters in an industry racing toward automation.
Moon brings a background as a singer-songwriter and vocal coach, with influences ranging from Joni Mitchell and Lauryn Hill to Massive Attack and the Bee Gees. Aries is a classically trained pianist with experience composing for video games and films, drawing inspiration from Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, ABBA, and Röyksopp, along with classic 80s sounds. Together, they’ve created a sound that defies easy categorization — somewhere between synth-pop, chill electronica, cinematic soul, and jazz-infused lounge.
Their catalog explores themes of transformation, empowerment, healing, and spiritual awakening. The mission, as they describe it, goes beyond just making music: they want to elevate consciousness and activate what they call “a higher version of reality.” It’s ambitious language, but their growing international audience — with radio play across Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia, and America — suggests it’s resonating.
The geographical separation that might handicap other collaborations seems to fuel their creativity. Working across time zones forces a different kind of discipline and intentionality. When one sends a file, the other receives it fresh, without the baggage of watching its creation. Each contribution becomes a conversation across time and space.
Two more singles are planned for October and November 2025, both specifically crafted as potential soundtracks for film and television placement. But the most intriguing development comes next year: after five years of virtual collaboration, Moon and Aries plan to meet in person in 2026, either in Canada or the United States, to record a live album and perform together.
The upcoming meeting promises to add another layer to their already successful collaboration. After five years of crafting music across continents, the opportunity to work in the same studio space opens up intriguing possibilities — the immediacy of live recording, the energy that comes from sharing a room, the kind of musical accidents that happen when musicians can read each other’s body language. Their virtual collaboration has already yielded 33 tracks and industry recognition. A live album could capture something entirely different: the raw interplay between two artists who’ve built an intricate musical relationship through screens finally translating that connection to a shared stage.
For now, “Balance” stands as evidence that geography need not limit creative partnership. In an industry that often prioritizes traditional studio sessions and in-person collaboration, Moon and Aries have built something substantial across an ocean, proving that distance might just be another creative parameter to explore.
The irony isn’t lost that a song called “Balance” so perfectly demonstrates the equilibrium these two artists have found — not just in the track’s layered production, but in their entire approach to making music across continents.
Find Moon and Aries on Spotify, Apple Music, and at moonandaries.com.
