x/o (Veron Xio) is a Vietnamese-Canadian producer, composer, sound designer, and interdisciplinary artist whose work spans experimental music, film, and performance. Their releases include the genre-defying album Chaos Butterfly (2022) and the EP Cocoon Egg (2017). Their screen and composition credits include Ripe (dir. Solara Thanh-Bình Đặng, 2025), motherland 母懷之地 (dir. Alger Ji-Liang, 2021), and To Make Ends Meet (dir. Kimberly Ho), for which they served as music director. These works have received honours from TIFF, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, VIFF, the Festival of Recorded Movement, and VAFF. They also composed original music for Jas Lin’s dance work Chrysanthemum River. In 2026, x/o debuted hyaline, a new interdisciplinary performance created with collaborator Gooie and choreography coach Jas Lin, at VIVO Media Arts Centre.

For this edition of shelf notes x/o shares some releases from their recent rotation; Vietnamese hardcore punk, blissful ambient arps, unraveling vocal juxtapositions, orchestral J-pop, and black metal ecstasy.