Alt-Electronic duo Vaarwell deliver a cinematic, after-dark journey on debut mixtape ‘3AM On The Northern Line’

Lisbon-born, London-based duo Vaarwell release their anticipated debut mixtape ‘3AM On The Northern Line’ via Disorder.

Across the past few months, Margarida Falcão and Ricardo Nagy have carved out an increasingly distinct corner of the alt-electronic landscape. Their recent singles ‘Corinthia’, ‘Corinthia II’ featuring Jeshi, ‘Undine’ and the accompanying remix from Paleman earned praise from key tastemakers including Rolling Stone UK, Wonderland, Notion, Dancewax, The Line of Best Fit, GRM Daily, Radio 1, Apple Music 1 and more – cementing the rising profile of a duo who blend UK club culture, post-dubstep influences and introspective songwriting into something cinematic and unmistakably their own.

‘3AM On The Northern Line’ is built from duality: the tension between euphoria and reflection, chaos and calm, nightlife and interiority. Written, recorded and produced entirely in their southeast London home studio, the 11-track opus serves as both a love letter to British dance music and a diaristic account of their years adjusting to life in a city that moves fast, breaks hard, and heals in unexpected ways.

The project opens with ‘10pm’, a deceptively emotional introduction as Margarida’s confessional vocals drift over soft piano keys before swirling into a bed of gradually thickening synths. It transitions into the Låpsley-esque ‘IDK’, where light breakbeats cushion whispered reflections on mid-twenties uncertainty: flatshares, debt, side jobs, and the tender chaos of trying to make things work. ‘Corinthia’ follows, a club-heightened moment built on skipping garage percussion and pulsing atmospherics, capturing the liminal, breathless space between movement and memory.

The mixtape’s emotional core unfolds in a run of tracks that balance delicacy with intensity. ‘No Metaphors’ strips away abstraction for something blunt and honest, weaving warm synth haze around lyrics that reach for clarity. ‘Real’ returns to their soft-rave sensibilities, pairing vaporous harmonies with Ricardo’s understated yet propulsive production, offering a moment of quiet relief before the subtly hedonistic ‘Where Are We?’, where rolling breakbeats and euphoric textures conjure the feeling of being deep inside a club’s strobe-lit haze. ‘Safe’ slows down the pace and cranks up the intimate urgency, with rumbling rhythms and delicate, floating vocals dropping into a crescendo of breaks. Glowing interlude ‘Undine (1am)’ is a vocoder-soaked transmission recalling early James Blake and providing an emotional palate cleanser before the mixtape’s final act.

The fully realised version of ‘Undine’ expands its myth-inflected heartbreak into a cinematic swirl of crisp drums and ethereal vocals – a song born from whispered vocoder lines and transformed into a track about betrayal, longing and the ache of becoming someone’s second choice. ‘Could You Not Go?’ sits at the emotional comedown of the night: melancholic, introspective and quietly warming, its slow-burn arrangement mirroring the ache of watching a moment slip away. Finally, title track ‘3AM’ ushers in the mixtape’s dawn: ambient, blurred at the edges, and calm in the way a racing mind finally settles, closing the project in a state of fragile peace.

The mixtape arrives fresh from the second night of their ‘Flight Patterns’ live residency, held last night at London’s Bermondsey Social Club, place connection front and centre as Riccardo recreated the intricate productions live while Margo weaved in her haunting vocals with FX pedals and vocoders in enthralling fashion. The show follows September’s sold-out first edition, further establishing Vaarwell as one of London’s most captivating emerging electronic acts, translating their intricate production and reclusive vocal style into a performance space that feels both raw and transportive.

Solidifying Vaarwell’s knack for crafting emotionally charged electronic music built for the moments after the night out – ‘3AM On The Northern Line’ is for train rides home, kitchen-light conversations, and the strange in-between hours where clarity and confusion coexist. Like the swallow that appears on the mixtape’s cover, the project reflects movement, migration and renewal, capturing the duo’s journey from Lisbon to London and the sound they have discovered along the way.

TRACKLIST – 3AM ON THE NORTHERN LINE

1. 10pm
2. IDK
3. Corinthia
4. No Metaphors
5. Real
6. Where Are We?
7. Safe
8. Undine (1am interlude)
9. Undine
10. Could You Not Go?
11. 3AM

ABOUT VAARWELL

Vaarwell are Lisbon-born, London-based duo Margarida Falcão and Ricardo Nagy, who blend indie-leaning songwriting with UK-influenced electronic production. Originally coming from contrasting musical worlds – folk and punk -they met studying music production in Lisbon, bonding over British post-dubstep artists like James Blake, Mount Kimbie and SBTRKT. After early acclaim on Radio 1, 6Music and Bandcamp, they moved to London in 2020 and began shaping a sound that balances intimacy with intensity. Writing and producing from their home studio, their work draws from the city’s underground club culture while retaining the emotional directness of Margarida’s songwriting. Their debut mixtape ‘3AM On The Northern Line’ is their most accomplished project to date: a dualistic, nocturnal journey crafted for zoning out on the tube home post-rave

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