Chillout is a style of electronic music whose name comes from an English slang word meaning “relaxation”.

Originating in the early 1990s, then-chillout was relatively seasoned and slow. During this time, several seminal albums were released with the prefix “Chill Out” in the title. These albums were also closely associated with styles of downtempo, trip-hop, slow versions of house music, nu jazz, Cybient and lounge. This musical style has also been influenced by trance, ambient, and creative dance music (IDM) styles. The term “chill-out” is mostly used to describe tonal, “relaxed” music, or at least not as intense as in the above-mentioned predecessors. It is incorrect to refer to chill-out as various kinds of hypnotic rhythms. Sometimes the name “soft-techno” is used instead of chill-out.

Recently, chill-out has become popular among progressive trance and progressive house musicians, making their creativity more diverse. That’s why this genre is sometimes called Ibiza Trance/Balearic House – after the island of Ibiza as well as Goa trance after the state of Goa, India. This music reflects the atmosphere of the island of Ibiza, and, as fans of the genre say, listening to this euphoric and spiritually uplifting music, you can vividly imagine a Mediterranean sunset. This effect is achieved through the use of synthesized string instrument sounds, wave sounds, mandolins and guitars, as well as “whispered” vocals.

Chill-out is also called a separate dance floor at big enough concerts (parties) in Goa-trance style and its derivatives, or just a recreation zone in dance clubs. In the chill-out usually plays relaxing music of the above-mentioned styles, dancers on the main dance floor come there to relax. The largest psi events are also equipped with a special “dark” dance floor, where they play dark psytrance – a kind of the opposite of the chill-out.