Schmidley Smychkey is the musical alias of Benjamin Lovett – a Texas-raised, Czech-based violinist who makes music for tiny creatures, curious humans, and any pond with decent acoustics. The name is a cheeky mashup of Czech words that loosely mean “fiddley loops” – a nod to both his instrument of choice and his love for looping.

Equal parts string wizard, kitchen-sink experimentalist, and nature nerd, Schmidley blends violins, bubbling synths, gentle beats, flutes, hurdy-gurdies, and who-knows-what into playful sonic dioramas. It’s lullaby meets microbe disco. It’s rotifer reverie meets tardigrade swamp rave. It’s... pond pop – a genre he invented, inspired by caddisfly larva, water fleas, and other wiggly life forms.

There’s humor here, but also heart. Each track feels like a tiny world built with care, curiosity, and just enough weirdness to keep things squishy. Schmidley doesn’t chase trends. He’s out collecting sounds, feelings and textures, turning moods and mushrooms (and even plankton) into music.

Most of the music is brewed at home and mastered by Prague sound wizard Ondřej Ježek (DVA, Zrní, Alois Nebel – for which he received a Czech Lion). The result is hand-whittled, headphone-friendly wonderment – odd, tender, and full of unexpected joy.