page_title: Chill-out music
section_title: Origins and definition
hierarchical_section_title: Chill-out music / Origins and definition
caption_attribution_description: Paterson and Fehlmann of The Orb at a 2006 performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
context_page_description: Chill-out is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally refers to anything that might be identified as a modern type of easy listening. Some of the genres associated with "chill" include downtempo, classical, dance, jazz, hip hop, world, pop, lounge, and ambient.
  The term "chill-out music" – originally conflated with "ambient house" – came from an area called "The White Room" at the Heaven nightclub in London in 1989. There, DJs played ambient mixes from sources such as Brian Eno and Pink Floyd to allow dancers a place to "chill out" from the faster-paced music of the main dance floor. Ambient house became widely popular over the next decade before it declined due to market saturation.
  In the early 2000s, DJs in Ibiza's Café Del Mar began creating ambient house mixes that drew on jazz, classical, Hispanic, and New Age sources. The popularity of chill-out subsequently expanded to dedicated satellite radio channels, outdoor festivals, and thousands of compilation albums.
context_section_description: There is no exact definition of chill-out music. The term, which has evolved throughout the decades, generally refers to anything that might be identified as a modern type of easy listening. Some of the genres associated with "chill" include downtempo, classical, dance, jazz, hip hop, world, pop, lounge, and ambient. Chill-out typically has slow rhythms,  sampling, a "trance-like nature", "drop-out beats", and a mixture of electronic instruments with acoustic instruments. In the "Ambient/Chill Out" chapter of Rick Snoman's 2013 book Dance Music Manual, he writes, "it could be said that as long as the tempo remains below 120 BPM and it employs a laid-back groove, it could be classed as chill out."
  The term originated from an area called "The White Room" at the Heaven nightclub in London in 1989. Its DJs were Jimmy Cauty and Alex Patterson, later of the Orb. They created ambient mixes from sources such as Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, the Eagles, Mike Oldfield, 10cc, and War. The room's purpose was to allow dancers a chance to "chill out" from the more emphatic and fast-tempo music played on the main dance floor. This also coincided with the short-lived fad of ambient house, also known as "New Age house".  Cauty's KLF subsequently released an album called Chill Out (February 1990), featuring uncredited contributions from Patterson. In addition, during the early 1990s, the Beach Boys' Smiley Smile (1967) was reputed as one of the best "chill-out" albums to listen to during an LSD comedown.
  Ambient house declined after the mid-1990s due to market saturation. In the early 2000s, DJs in Ibiza's Café Del Mar began creating ambient house mixes that drew on jazz, classical, Hispanic, and New Age sources. They called their product "chill-out music", and it sparked a revived interest in ambient house from the public and record labels. The popularity of chill-out subsequently expanded to dedicated satellite radio channels, outdoor festivals, and the release of thousands of compilation albums offering ambient sounds and "muffled" beats. Consequently, the popular understanding of "chill-out music" shifted away from "ambient" and into its own distinct genre. Music critics to that point were generally dismissive of the music.
caption: The Orb performing in 2006
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