Electro-pop duo Sacre unleash ‘05:00AM JUNGLE CHASE’
Image Credit: Thomas Braut
French electro-pop pair Sacre has shared our new favourite dance anthem ‘05:00AM JUNGLE CHASE’, filled with sexual energy and tension. The single features on their future album released titled LOVE REVOLUTION. To date, the duo have worked with big names like Gigamesh, ELEPHANZ, CHOPSTICK & JOHNJON, Uppermost and Kraak & Smaak, and currently sit on an impressive 3 million streams across streaming platforms.
Sacre shares what inspired the track: “We imagined Jungle Chase as a soundtrack for the chase in our story. For the moment when the little witch and her mean brother are trying to get the stone back. A death hunt on the road. As we did for every song in Love Revolution, we looked for a more pop-oriented subject that would fit our story. So the lyrics are about the chase between a “saturday night sex hunter” and his prey. It takes place in a club where the prey appears as a doe and first seems scared…”
Sacre manage to make those less likely to go clubbing nostalgic for a night out on the town! The song is reminiscent of hot summer nights in the club, and sexual flings that are bound to happen in the night.
Sub Focus & Wilkinson have teamed up with the dynamic D+B duo Pola & Bryson to give a fresh 174BPM update on their recent single ‘Just Hold On’.
A captivating and impactful take on the polished original, the versus remix of ‘Just Hold On’ adds an extra layer of energy and understated emotion to an already heart-stropping track.
Two globally renowned artists in their own right with over 1 billion combined streams ‘Just Hold On’ saw Sub Focus and Wilkinson taking their sound into an expansive new direction. Featuring live drums played by Wilkinson and live strings, the euphoric, breakbeat-heavy track is complimented by soaring diva vocals courtesy of Vula Malinga of Basement Jaxx with a bitter sweet lyric that has added poignancy in these uncertain times.
The single was the second of a long form collaborative album project between the two artists called ‘Portals’ taking their styles in a more expansive and experimental direction, inspired by the likes of Jon Hopkins, Bonobo and Bicep. Looking to incorporate real instruments and more depth into their corner of the electronic music world, the pair last year retreated to Real World Studios for a full month – the legendary space owned by Peter Gabriel. In this iconic studio, Sub Focus and Wilkinson invited drum & bass’ rising stars Pola & Bryson to join forces in giving a classic D+B spin on their newly crafted single.
The first fruits of their partnership spawned ‘Illuminate’ in 2019 which featured on BBC Radio 1’s playlist for five weeks. Having performed live together in the last year at the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend, EDC Las Vegas, Warehouse Project and Glastonbury, the duo have become synonymous with festival anthems and headline performances.
Two of the most exciting producers from the D&B new-school, Pola & Bryson have shot to fame with their melodic brand of dance music. Key releases over the years include their debut album This Time Last Year on Soulvent Records, the critically acclaimed remix of Moby’s iconic ‘Porcelain’ and second LP Lost In Thought, which was nominated as ‘Best Album’ at the D&B Arena Awards 2018.
The collective rework of ‘Just Hold On’ is an expertly crafted sonic jewel, and of one of 2020’s biggest dance tracks for certain.
The newest addition to the plethora of talent that can be found on Inperspective Records is the ethereal and impactful sound of Dissident. The Russian born DJ and producer has an eclectic style encompassing ‘post-dubstep’ sounds and classic techy breakbeats. With an already impressive discography of 9 albums, a multitude of singles and EP’s, releasing on labels such as Hospital, Dispatch and Offshore, Dissident sets to make even bigger waves with his new ‘Enfilade’ EP, making an exciting addition to the Inperspective family.
Setting the tone of the EP is ‘Eclipse Corridor’ featuring the transcendental vocals of Ruth Cory. The hauntingly smooth vocal is her impressive debut onto Inperspective and sets an exciting atmosphere for the rest of the tracks to build on. Seamlessly gliding from a spiritual build up into a simple yet beautiful drum and bass pattern, Dissident draws you into his world with this first track and leaves you with high expectations for the rest of the EP.
With a dynamic beat from the offset, ‘Ouverture 48’ takes you deeper with dark undertones and an exciting mechanical sound. Complemented by a melancholic piano progression, it guides us into the powerful, all guns blazing drop. The third track, ‘His Paintings’, takes you from one world to the next with an opening that elicits feelings of suspense, and something big to come. This tension builds as the drums roll in and dissonant and darker notes are introduced.
The final track of the EP, Tiulpa, is the perfect finale to this other-worldly collection. The track starts with a swell of sound which lulls you into a sense of strange calm, and then rises up to the drop. The drop seems to fluctuate like a wave, rising and falling ever so slightly, with the addition of new and interesting sounds each time. This complex mix of sounds and levels has a powerful effect that leaves you in awe of its creator.
DJ Jack Trades & singer Heather Hanssen collaborate
Image: Chane Neveling
Canadian electronic music producer Jack Trades has released his new single, ‘Kill Me Slowly (with Heather Janssen)’ via PhysicalPresents. To date, Jack Trades sits on over 3.6 million streams across streaming platforms. Trades has also been featured on popular Spotify playlists including Friday Cratediggers, Katch Flights, mint Canada and Sensual Musique’s Good Life Radio mix for 2020. Singer Heather Janssen sits on an impressive 14 million streams across major platforms and has worked with acts like Tyler Ward and Tep.
Jack Trades talks about the release, “The very early version draft of this song had a very different instrumental and a different singer that tackled the subject of “challenges in a relationship” but was unable to capture the whole emotion in the song. My Label A&R then introduced me to Heather Janssen, sent her the instrumental and soon as we heard the first scratch on the instrumental, we knew we had something special. I was able to get in the studio with Heather in Toronto and really connect on the writing and what we envisioned with the song. Funny thing is when Heather did finalize writing ‘Kill Me Slowly’, we ended up doing a brand new production around her vocals to suit the mood of the record.”
‘Kill Me Slowly’ is presented as an upbeat dance song that can be played in the club or on the radio, but it carries a lot of emotional weight in the lyrics that Janssen portrays. This ability adds layers to a typical dance track.
Music producer Demuja drops new 3-track EP Brotherhood
Austrian DJ and producer Demuja has unveiled his new EP ‘Brotherhood’, out 17th April, with 100% of the proceeds to be donated to Doctors Without Borders via Bandcamp.
Composed of three raw dance cuts, ‘Brotherhood’ opens with the carefree vocal-led house of ‘Seduction’, with ‘Funk Patch 17’ following a similar formula with its combination of heavy pads and soulful instrumentation. ‘In Your Soul’ then channels the spirit of the early jungle into something fresh and invigorating – closing out an EP that delivers a much-needed dose of musical escapism.
Little Dragon releases new song ‘Are You Feeling Sad?’ featuring Kali Uchis
Little Dragon release new single ‘Are You Feeling Sad?’ featuring the Grammy-nominated Colombian-American singer Kali Uchis, ahead of their headline show at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on 26th March and the release of their new album “New Me, Same Us” on 27th March on Ninja Tune.
Having lent their own inimitable sound to many high-profile collaborations over the years—including Gorillaz, Mac Miller, Flying Lotus, BADBADNOTGOOD, SBTRKT, Flume, KAYTRANADA, Big Boi, De La Soul, DJ Shadow, Tinashe, Future and many more—it is not often that they open up their own tracks to outside influences, with only a handful of featured artists appearing on their own productions. “We are super excited Kali features on this track.” say the band, “all of a sudden at the end of last year, this version appeared in our emails like a beautiful Christmas gift. She put her twist on it and gave the track an amazing energy. Did we mention we also love her?!”
“New Me, Same Us” is entirely self-produced and recorded at their long-term home-built studio in Gothenburg—the city where they formed at school and have played together ever since. It’s the sound of a band going back to basics and falling back in love with their instruments: drums, bass, keyboards, harp, guitar and voice, to produce some of their most focussed and inarguably best music to date. Fronted by the enigmatic and much loved Yukimi Nagano, with multi-instrumentalists Håkan Wirenstarnd and Fredrik Wallin on keyboards and bass respectively, and Erik Bodin—when he’s not training to be a champion speed skater—on drums and percussion. They are a band with a rich history, from living together in a communal squat-cum-recording studio in central Gothenburg in their teens—selling strawberries and driving trucks to make ends meet—to sustaining a global, decade-spanning touring career which has seen them perform at some of the world’s most revered festivals such as Coachella, Glastonbury, Bestival, Lollapalooza, Melt, Dour and Sonar Festival, as well as recently co-headlining a show with Flying Lotus at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. They are a band who are proudly left-of-centre and fiercely protective of doing things on their own terms.
Having recently got in the studio with hotly-tipped photographer Mous Lamrabat to produce the single’s accompanying press shot, the band continue a long history of working with some of the best creatives in the worlds of art and and design, including David Uzochukwu (Dior, FKA Twigs, Pharrell, Nike), who has produced a limited edition photobook which will accompany the release.
Esofact is the combination of UrpleEeple (Peter Farr) and Isturite’s (Kevin Welch) creative labours. Their new track ‘Blocks‘ is the first from an upcoming self-titled EP, which looks set to rustle the feathers of all the genre-purists out there.
Based in California and Los Angeles respectively, Farr and Welch have known each other since their teens, and traversed the landscapes of the early rave culture together. Naturally, they decided to make music together and in 2014 Esofact was born.
‘Blocks‘ is a genre-defying mosaic of sounds and styles – free from the shackles of labels. Esofact expains: “Blocks is a piece we wrote about grappling with modern society’s obsession with putting you into a box. The music industry has this obsession with labelling you. “Oh, you make bass music.” “Oh, this sounds like future bass.” “Oh, this is beats.” We wrote blocks to break genre boundaries as our way of breaking out of the predefined labels the music industry seems obsessed with sticking onto you. Sometimes music is just music, and you need to sit back and enjoy it. Turn off the part of your brain that wants to label what it is, and simply enjoy it.”
NEVER NOT MAKING NOISE – ’20 Years of fabric’ 20th Anniversary celebration of the beating heart of EC1.
Using the platform of fabric and FABRICLIVE that the London club have lovingly nurtured over the past 20 years, fabric Records present the past and future with 20 artists across 20 tracks, for the 20th Anniversary celebration of the beating heart of EC1. 1999: the beginning of the story. 1,000 weekends and 3,000 events, together with a seminal CD series that wrapped up last year with closing instalments from fabric residents Craig Richards and Terry Francis with club founder Keith Reilly, alongside London underground innovators Burial & Kode9 for FABRICLIVE. This special 20th Anniversary release reflects the history of the club from the very beginning to the current crop of residents. Here you’ll find artists who helped shape the sound of the club, grew up in the club, have been inspired by the club and have become part of the fabric family.
FABRICLIVE represents the finest in dubstep, drum & bass, jungle, breaks and experimental beats. Houndstooth’s Special Request leads the charge in trademark style, opening the floor to Friday night luminaries Source Direct and JMajik. Shackleton and Pinch & Trim started playing the club during the birth of the UK dubstep scene and give a taste of the hugely disparate evolution of bass music. Daniel Avery and B.Traits show off their dancefloor versatility, while Rupture co-founder Mantra plants a flag for London’s vibrant musical future. Closing are two of the club’s longest associates GrooveArmada and original FABRICLIVE resident James Lavelle as UNKLE.
fabric has been responsible for nurturing the underground London house and techno scene, inspiring and revolutionising the clubbing landscape by confidently proving that you don’t have to book commercial acts to be a success. The breadth of talent here displays the far reaching arms of the night – with an opening spread of melodic techno from Nina Kraviz, the shuddering electro of Steffi, and evolving experimental house of Margaret Dygas. New resident IMOGEN veers things in a darker direction towards Cassy’s pumping house and Marcel Dettmann’s classic late-night techno. Anastasia Kristensen drives ahead while Houndstooth’s Call Super takes things down a deeper notch with a track reminiscent of many a classic night in room 3, and Maya Jane Coles steps up with a playful slice of house. British dance music pioneer Sasha closes out on a euphoric high with layers of building vocal and melody.
NEVER NOT MAKING NOISE.fabric 1/ A1 – Nina Kraviz – Da [fabric] 2/ A2 – Steffi – Ankertje [fabric] 3/ A3 – IMOGEN – Bizant [fabric] 4/ B1 – Marcel Dettmann – Taste 2.0 [fabric] 5/ B2 – Cassy – Joey [fabric] 6/ B3 – Anastasia Kristensen – Go Getter [fabric] 7/ C1 – Margaret Dygas – Zeitgeist [fabric] 8/ C2 – Call Super – Echothread [fabric] 9/ D1 – Maya Jane Coles – Reason [fabric] 10/ D2 – Sasha – Comet Chaser [fabric]
FABRICLIVE 1/ A1 – Special Request – Codename Turbo Nutter [FABRICLIVE] 2/ A2 – Source Direct – Vigilante [FABRICLIVE] 3/ B1 – J. Majik – The Lost Tribe [FABRICLIVE] 4/ B2 – Shackleton – Drawn and Quartered [FABRICLIVE] 5/ B3 – Pinch & Trim – That Wasn’t It [FABRICLIVE] 6/ C1 – Daniel Avery – Whilst We’ve Got Metal In Our Blood [FABRICLIVE] 7/ C2 – Mantra – Embers [FABRICLIVE] 8/ C3 – B.Traits – Mameya [FABRICLIVE] 9/ D1 – Groove Armada – Wesley Nightshade [FABRICLIVE] 10/ D2 – UNKLE – Catch Me When I Fall (fabric Club Mix) [FABRICLIVE]
Having made serious waves with the release of his debut album ‘Coeur Calme’ in 2014 and the incredible 2016 follow up album ‘Zawadi’, Kimyan Law steers his sound in a darker, more introspective direction with the twelve heavily themed set-pieces of his new album, ‘Yonda’.
The album title, ’Yonda’, homophonically flits between a location in Kimyan Law’s native Congo and definitions of something situated at a distance but still visible, foreshadowing the artist’s move away from his typical uplifting palette into less playful territory.
While previous work seemed to be a personal exploration of joy-tinged melancholy, ‘Yonda’, feels much more sober and pensive, infected with external events. In conversation with KimyanLaw, the artist described one piece (‘Krieg’) as his “portrait of war”, with the music moving through phases of violence, silence, panic, redemption, and peace. Ever the allegorist, KimyanLaw relates themes of conflict and war not just to obvious geopolitics but also to his own physical struggles, and even an obsessive battle with the music itself, (‘Yonda’ has been more than three years in the making). In 2017 the artist wrote, “I’ve reached a point where I couldn’t sleep because it bothered me so much…I have found myself unable to make any music except for Krieg”.
An accomplished drummer in his own right, Kimyan Law’s intricate rhythmic sensibility is the lifeblood that runs throughout the album, incorporating ever more outlandish sources of percussion recorded from his natural surroundings and filtered through technology.
‘Yonda’s opener, ‘Jaardin’, is deceptively gentle, with off-kilter rhythms and pianos providing fertile ground for Elyn’s delicate singing before the whole piece careens off into what can only be described as orchestral proto-jungle territory. It soon becomes apparent that this placid introduction is misleading, with subsequent tracks fluctuating between pounding tribal beats (‘Arboreal Epitone’ / ‘Kin’), chilling orchestration (‘Byo’ / ‘Krieg’) and rehabilitated jungle forms (‘Seven Ant Foley’). A constant mix of light and dark, futuristic yet primitive atmosphere hangs over the album, with waves of luscious synths and deeply musical string arrangements lovingly cloaked over the razor-sharp drum work.
Unusual conceptual themes litter ‘Yonda’; ‘Dor Rhythm’ is about a Dung Beetle’s journey, ‘Lampion’ is about paper lanterns, ‘Nova’ is about plant growth while ‘Kilele’ is a song about peace, featuring Kimyan Law’s own vocals in a new language he created himself, conjuring memories of Cocteau Twin’s Liz Fraser.
While ‘Yonda’ contains moments of incontestable beauty it can often be a difficult listen, an illustration of a restless mind yearning for peace. An obsessive and intricate musician, Kimyan Law’s use of African percussion, finely honed polyrhythmic patterns and celestial sprinklings of keys melded with slabs of sub-bass power and sheer energy makes for an intoxicating listen. As ever, KimyanLaw has delivered a profoundly serious piece of work that expands the vocabulary of his genre. Despite the darkness saturating the work, a soft light still breaks through the window. It is the east, and Kimyan Law is the sun.
Bristol-based producer obylx creates bass music with elements of neo-classical swing. His latest track, ‘Flicker‘ is one such offering. Released via Guise Records, the track is a genre bending collage of sound.
Since January 2018, obylx has released a new song on the first day of each month. These monthly tracks combined with his first album, Once and his upcoming offering, Twice has culminated in the output of an impressive 37 songs in the space of 24 months.
