"Latest in Dance Music: Explore New Tracks by Subtronics, John Summit & Hayla, Calvin Harris, and More in Friday's Guide"
This week in dance music: We went behind the scenes with DJs and sports, hanging out with 16 NBA DJs, Shaquille O'Neil discussing his electronic work, and DJ Garrett Stubbs of the Philadelphia Phillies. In addition, Justice was confirmed as a 2024 SXSW speaker, and we had a conversation with Boiler Room's creative director.
Investigate
Calvin H
Tet Four
Francis Mercier View the most recent news, charts, and videos.
Of course, these are also this week's top new dance songs.
With the release of TESSERACT, the sophomore album from Philadelphia's Subtronics, the bass scene keeps up its head-banging, rail-riding forward momentum. The 16-track album, which is available through the artists' own Cyclops Recordings, features a number of genre mainstays, including Grabbitz, Excision, HOL! (of "COUNTRY RIDDIM" fame), and REZZ. The latter artist collaborates with producer-born Jesse Kardon on the ominous, squelchy, and spatial track "Black Ice." Ultimately, the album features more sombre and occasionally jazzy sections, with several grime-infused tracks that demonstrate Kardon's hefty, heady, and frequently trippy spectrum. Other tracks smash like a two-by-four to the face.
He claims that certain songs are designed to be heard on the dance floor, while others are best listened to in the car or while being serenaded to sleep. "I'm doing everything in my power to craft a sci-fi world of energy and feeling, as well as an intriguing alternate reality filled with magic." Starting tonight in Minneapolis, Subtronics, the only electronic act to appear on Pollstar's 2023 Top 100 North American Tours chart at No. 75, will embark on a 16-date North American tour. Two gigs at Red Rocks are scheduled for May.
President Obama's list of favourite songs from 2023 included the popular song "Where You Are," which this duo created a winning formula for. The same goes for "Shiver," which showcases Hayla's becoming more and more iconic voice over a climax-laden, dramatic progressive house production by Summit. Hayla and I had one of the biggest dance hits of the previous year, 'Where You Are,' so we knew we had to make something bigger, but it was much easier said than done," he adds. This record took almost nine months from beginning to end, but wow, it was well worth the wait. I think this record may be my best one yet because it's the most emotionally invested one I've ever made.
The song, which is available on Summit's Experts Only label, is released ahead of his sold-out Madison Square Garden event in July as well as his Coachella 2024 dates, where he will perform both solo and with Dom Dolla as Under Construction. Later this year, Summit and Hayla will both release their debut albums.
Calvin Harris and Rag n Bone Man, a British singer-songwriter and hitmaker, collaborated on 2019's "Giant," which is a re-link for "Lovers In a Past Life." Recorded towards the close of 2023, Harris blends the silky voice of Rag n Bone Man with a slinky guitar, kickdrum, and waves of synth to create a tune that keeps the Valentine's Day vibe alive with lyrics about "slow dancing in the midnight glow." The song comes after news that Harris will be returning to Ushauïa in Ibiza for a Friday night residency this season, and that he will be a resident at LIV Las Vegas and LIV Beach inside the Fontainebleau Las Vegas starting in 2024.
The lead single from her upcoming debut album, "Silence Is Loud," which drops on April 12, continues the hot streak of British jungler Nia Archives. The two and a half minute song is a powerful and high-impact tribute to the producer's love for her brother, without whom the lyrics say, "the silence is loud," weaving classic jungle with elements of rave, indie, and Brit-pop. Released on HIJINXX/Island Records, the album was co-produced by David Byrne and FKA Twigs associate Ethan P. Flynn. Rather than being a compilation of songs, Archives aims to advance the genre by, in her words, "putting interesting sounds on jungle."
Although the weather in February isn't very great, Haitian DJ Francis Mercier's most recent song, "Hustla," takes us to the balmy beaches of our dreams. The South Sudanese-Canadian singer Emmanuel Jal adds vocals that match the production on the Afro-house track "Out on Higher Ground," which speaks of "the heat of Port-au-Prince, to the streets of New York, rocking in the souk of Marrakesh, headed to the hills of Nairobi, on the way to the beaches of Rio." Mercier creates a steamy, breezy groove. Allow this one to transport you, even if all you have planned for the weekend is lounging around the home.
This week is significant for Four Tet since he has announced his very own festival, appropriately named Four Tet & Friends, which will take place in Brooklyn on May 4-5. Producers Ben UFO, Chloé Robinson, Daphni b2b Floating Points, Salute, Avalon Emerson, and Four Tet himself will be performing various sets at the event. This announcement coincides with the release of the producer's most recent track, "Daydream Repeat," which incorporates the chime sound—so crucial to the Four Tet catalog—against a forceful, yet delicate, and sometimes even a little gritty, six-minute production. The track is the most recent release from Four Tet's upcoming March 15th studio album, Three.
Investigate
Calvin H
Tet Four
Francis Mercier View the most recent news, charts, and videos.
Of course, these are also this week's top new dance songs.
With the release of TESSERACT, the sophomore album from Philadelphia's Subtronics, the bass scene keeps up its head-banging, rail-riding forward momentum. The 16-track album, which is available through the artists' own Cyclops Recordings, features a number of genre mainstays, including Grabbitz, Excision, HOL! (of "COUNTRY RIDDIM" fame), and REZZ. The latter artist collaborates with producer-born Jesse Kardon on the ominous, squelchy, and spatial track "Black Ice." Ultimately, the album features more sombre and occasionally jazzy sections, with several grime-infused tracks that demonstrate Kardon's hefty, heady, and frequently trippy spectrum. Other tracks smash like a two-by-four to the face.
He claims that certain songs are designed to be heard on the dance floor, while others are best listened to in the car or while being serenaded to sleep. "I'm doing everything in my power to craft a sci-fi world of energy and feeling, as well as an intriguing alternate reality filled with magic." Starting tonight in Minneapolis, Subtronics, the only electronic act to appear on Pollstar's 2023 Top 100 North American Tours chart at No. 75, will embark on a 16-date North American tour. Two gigs at Red Rocks are scheduled for May.
President Obama's list of favourite songs from 2023 included the popular song "Where You Are," which this duo created a winning formula for. The same goes for "Shiver," which showcases Hayla's becoming more and more iconic voice over a climax-laden, dramatic progressive house production by Summit. Hayla and I had one of the biggest dance hits of the previous year, 'Where You Are,' so we knew we had to make something bigger, but it was much easier said than done," he adds. This record took almost nine months from beginning to end, but wow, it was well worth the wait. I think this record may be my best one yet because it's the most emotionally invested one I've ever made.
The song, which is available on Summit's Experts Only label, is released ahead of his sold-out Madison Square Garden event in July as well as his Coachella 2024 dates, where he will perform both solo and with Dom Dolla as Under Construction. Later this year, Summit and Hayla will both release their debut albums.
Calvin Harris and Rag n Bone Man, a British singer-songwriter and hitmaker, collaborated on 2019's "Giant," which is a re-link for "Lovers In a Past Life." Recorded towards the close of 2023, Harris blends the silky voice of Rag n Bone Man with a slinky guitar, kickdrum, and waves of synth to create a tune that keeps the Valentine's Day vibe alive with lyrics about "slow dancing in the midnight glow." The song comes after news that Harris will be returning to Ushauïa in Ibiza for a Friday night residency this season, and that he will be a resident at LIV Las Vegas and LIV Beach inside the Fontainebleau Las Vegas starting in 2024.
The lead single from her upcoming debut album, "Silence Is Loud," which drops on April 12, continues the hot streak of British jungler Nia Archives. The two and a half minute song is a powerful and high-impact tribute to the producer's love for her brother, without whom the lyrics say, "the silence is loud," weaving classic jungle with elements of rave, indie, and Brit-pop. Released on HIJINXX/Island Records, the album was co-produced by David Byrne and FKA Twigs associate Ethan P. Flynn. Rather than being a compilation of songs, Archives aims to advance the genre by, in her words, "putting interesting sounds on jungle."
Although the weather in February isn't very great, Haitian DJ Francis Mercier's most recent song, "Hustla," takes us to the balmy beaches of our dreams. The South Sudanese-Canadian singer Emmanuel Jal adds vocals that match the production on the Afro-house track "Out on Higher Ground," which speaks of "the heat of Port-au-Prince, to the streets of New York, rocking in the souk of Marrakesh, headed to the hills of Nairobi, on the way to the beaches of Rio." Mercier creates a steamy, breezy groove. Allow this one to transport you, even if all you have planned for the weekend is lounging around the home.
This week is significant for Four Tet since he has announced his very own festival, appropriately named Four Tet & Friends, which will take place in Brooklyn on May 4-5. Producers Ben UFO, Chloé Robinson, Daphni b2b Floating Points, Salute, Avalon Emerson, and Four Tet himself will be performing various sets at the event. This announcement coincides with the release of the producer's most recent track, "Daydream Repeat," which incorporates the chime sound—so crucial to the Four Tet catalog—against a forceful, yet delicate, and sometimes even a little gritty, six-minute production. The track is the most recent release from Four Tet's upcoming March 15th studio album, Three.