Browsing Category

Electronic Dance Music Blog

The existential indie dance pop icon Saynt Ego augmented grief in ‘Big Mad World’

Posted on 19 September 2023

The indietronica icon in the making, Saynt Ego, strengthened the foundations that his legacy will undoubtedly rest upon with his double A-side single, Looking 4 U – Big Mad World.

While the vocals sing a bitter-sweet goodbye, the augmented-with-funk melodic lines pull you to transcendence and acceptance in Big Mad World. The chaos of the universe is efficaciously encapsulated in the hypersonic soundscape, and all the assurance you will need that you can overcome any obstacle on your healing journey lingers in the lyricism, which rings with melancholy standing alone. Within the anthemics of the indie dance-pop hit, the candour-fuelled verses are awakening poetry, which alludes to the tragedy of obsession with earthly escapism.

Penned after losing his best friend to suicide, Big Mad World tracks cosmic themes while being underpinned by the grief of knowing that the human experience can’t always be traversed with resilience alone.

Occupying a middle ground between Cigarettes After Sex and ABBA, Saynt Ego found plenty of room to assert his authenticity in the self-produced release, which was written by Will Retherford and the airwaves on September 8th.

Stream Big Mad World on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Ecuadorian Pop Priestess NÍNIVE alchemised explosively ethereal ingenuity in ‘Solo En Ti’

Posted on 16 September 2023
https://soundcloud.com/zilla_records/ninive-solo-en-ti/s-NvjBBrEEo4M?si=cfbe8d80b83a4eeba7f40e99755bf7bc&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Following the spiritually beguiling prelude of ethereal vocals and minimalist electronic melodicism, the transition into the high-octane installation of fierce feminine energy with body-slamming beats to boot you into rhythmic arrest is a broadsiding testament to the boundless ingenuity of the one and only NÍNIVE.

For her seminal single, Solo En Ti, NÍNIVE collaborated with the world-renowned music producer Enrique Gonzalez, who has worked with everyone from Metallica to Tina Turner to Nine Inch Nails; together, they sonically solidified the Ecuadorian alternative artist’s claim to the pop throne.

Put her on your radar and watch her ascend even further with her forthcoming album; the ingenuity that the LP will breathe was teased by the explosive alchemy within Solo En Ti. If Mitski swallowed an atom bomb, her avant-garde stylings still wouldn’t come close to this scintillating Tour De Force.

Clearly, her strong musical background has served her well. NÍNIVE began her musical education at a young age at the National Conservatory of Quito and furthered her vocal studies at the College of Music at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (a Berklee Global Partner). She also holds a Masters of Music in Songwriting from Bath Spa University.

Solo En Ti will break ground on the airwaves on September 15; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Decadence is in Vogue in the Subversive Debut Music Video of Video Director Indiana Roma Voss

Posted on 7 September 2023

After affixing her attention and endlessly multifaceted creativity to subversive art forms from a young age, theNYC-born visual trailblazer Indiana Roma Voss has been raising the aesthetic profile of Amsterdam as a stylist, concept developer, and art developer and enriching the nightclub scene with her nightclub performance group, Nightclub Disaster.

In 2016, she won the Elle Styling Award for her fashion concept which saw the convergence of the underground techno and punk scenes, and in 2023 she made her debut as a music video director by allowing Westwood-esque Haute Couture to meet the queerness of the NYC Club Kid scene, in elevated decadent style.

Known for her editorial Avant-Garde work, Voss exceeded all expectation with her music video for the danceable new wave post-punk outfit Baby’s Berserk. The mise en scene in the video for the entrancingly atmospheric indietronica earworm, Accessories, is a melting pot of the dark, seedy and glam nature of Amsterdam’s club scene, with references to the obscure cult classic film Gummo, thrown in for cultural measure.

Whether her video debut is the start of her illustrious career as a video director or she takes her innovatory eye for experimental art in another direction, Indiana Roma Voss is undoubtedly a name that will remain integral to the international art and fashion world.

The official music video premiered on September 4th; stream it on YouTube.

Follow Indiana Roma Voss on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Goshok explored the pleasure-pain parallel in his visceral EDM single, Reach You, ft Otto Palmborg

Posted on 3 September 2023

For his latest single, Reach You, the independent Czech music producer, DJ, and songwriter Goshok teamed up with Otto Palmborg to reach the pinnacle of electronica fervour.

Ironically, we couldn’t get his last single, On My Mind, off ours; if Reach You is anything to go by, his talents in infusing his momentous Kygo-inspired tracks with visceral emotions have become superlatively honed. Once you hit play, you’ll be immersed in a bitter-sweet hit that errs on the side of affectionate rapture. If you know how it feels to be caught in the middle of a relationship that forces you to explore the pleasure-pain parallel, the resonance in Reach You will be phenomenal.

By pulling in elements from across the EDM spectrum to enliven his tropical house edge and augment his pop hooks until they’re ensnaringly sharp, Goshok created a hit that could facilitate his dream to become the first producer from Czechia to feature on the line-ups at Tomorrowland, Coachella, and Balaton Sound.

Reach You hit the airwaves on August 25; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Gee Beanie spoke in fluent ‘Body Language’ in his Reggaetronic debut single.

Posted on 2 September 2023

The pan-African singer-songwriter Gee Beanie sent the sensuality in the EDM genre through the roof with his cultural tapestry of a Reggaetronic debut single, Body Language, which dropped on August 25.

With his soulfully smooth vocal lines adding a sultry veneer over kicking and vibrant house-meets-afro-pop beats that bolster the intricate indie staccato melodies, Body Language is intoxicating and arrests the rhythmic pulses as well as a track with such a title should.

His ability to infuse his laid-back attitude into an exhilarating yet intimately enticing production that could enliven any dancefloor is sure to seal his successful fate in the industry.

It isn’t every day that an artist who can revolutionise a genre comes around. Save a spot on your radar for the pioneering song crafter; we have no doubts that even bigger beats are in the pipeline, especially with the promise of his debut LP, Be My Alibi?, which will be released in Spring 2024.

Stream Body Language on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Wrap yourself up in nasir mf.’s latest exhilaratingly illusory single, twine

Posted on 31 August 2023

After contorting genres to his creative whim and distorting soundscapes beyond previously conceived limits while still maintaining exhilarating earworm appeal, the Brooklyn-based independent artist and DJ, nasir mf., arrived at the epiphany that music is as boundless as the artist orchestrating it. His latest single, twine, is the ultimate manifestation of his limitlessness.

By evading the hallmarks of the perfect pop track and arriving at a far more decadently illusory sonic place via his experimentalism, nasir mf. created a portal of hyper-surreal escapism with twine. The chiptune-EDM-pop amalgam twists with every progressive turn to ensure your senses are electrifyingly heightened while you’re experiencing the ambient melodicism evolve into hardstyle momentum.

This is far from the first time we’ve found ourselves obsessed about the Brooklyn icon’s ingenuity, and something tells us he’s got plenty left in the tank to arrest us with.

twine hit the airwaves on August 22; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Belle reworked an iconic Beats International hit for her latest EDM single, Just Be Good to Me

Posted on 27 August 2023

Pump it up to the tune of the latest slamming hit from the euphoria emissary, Belle. Her reworking of Dub Be Good to Me from the iconic act Beats International augments the earwormy grooves and feeds the mix all the staples of a seminal future house anthem.

Dancefloors won’t know what has hit them when the sonic session in bass-driven hedonist transcendence is underway; with the way that the original has been polished and anthemised to the nth degree, the Grammy-nominated Cali native ensured that the track has a place in the future of EDM. It is enough to make the original sound positively lo-fi; that will only sound like blasphemy before you’ve realised how much the Future Rave remix of Just Be Good to Me will push your speakers to the limit.

The Future Rave Version of Just Be Good to Me dropped on August 18th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK producer, James Urquhart, delivered a transcendent EDM anthem with Fire on the Track

Posted on 23 August 2023
James Urquhart

While some artists and producers need an entire discography to demonstrate their versatility, the Chichester, UK-based electronica chameleon James Urquhart only needed one blazingly high-octane dance hit, Fire on the Track.

With grime and pop vocals adrenalizing the mix and enhancing the eclecticism of the EDM earworm that defies the laws of gravity with the transcendence it provides, you only need one hit of Fire on the Track before you’re obsessed with the progressively exhilarating groove-oriented mix that would make even the most rational crowd lose their mind on the dance floor.

Even though it has been a while since James Urquhart delivered his latest mix, as he has focused on honing his talents, he’s released on labels including Duffnote, Let There Be House, INK, and Soulful Evolution. He has also worked with everyone from Amanda Wilson to Amy Pearson to Everette Peters to Meshach Broderik. If Fire on the Track is anything to go by, his hard-hitting house production skills have been well and truly honed.

Fire on the Track hasn’t hit the airwaves yet; follow James Urquhart on SoundCloud and Instagram to be the first to know when it drops.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Manchester-based producer Tao Mitsu liberated his listeners with his transcendent mix, Just Let Go.

Posted on 20 August 2023

With textures and melodic progressions that go beyond immersive to offer aural escapism, when you’re enmeshed with the pulsating rhythms in the latest instrumental mix, Just Let Go, from the Manchester-based producer Tao Mitsu, space and time may as well cease to exist.

By starting with emotional impulses and constructing musical landscapes around them, each creation of Tao Mitsu is an evocative trip tinged with the full spectrum of human emotion rather than just riding euphoric waves. The fragments of melancholy within the groove and bass-driven ambient techno beats in Just Let Go capture the bittersweetness of loneliness, encompassing the primal pain of heartbreak and the first teasings of hope that appear on the periphery.

Just Let Go may not carry the definitive Manchester sound, but with the cover art depicting one of the cosy corners of the iconic Night & Day Café, Tao Mitsu succeeded in paying homage to the vibrant and eclectic music scene via his nostalgia-driven, transcendently liberating leftfield electronica anthem.

Just Let Go reached the airwaves on August 13th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

FanFixion took synth wave into dark unchartered waters with ‘Jackets Domain’

Posted on 19 August 2023

The US-based artist and producer FanFixion surpassed the synth wave trend with his 3-track project, Bleach Bitten, featuring the ensnaringly glitchy standout single, Jackets Domain.

As the emotions run high, the synth lines soak the darkwave score with atmospheric electricity which bridges the gap between new wave synthpop artists such as The Midnight and EBM icons including VNV Nation and Covenant.

With the inventive use of distortion to the hooky vocal melodies to amplify the intrinsic sense of disquietness and rock nuances bleeding into the hit that will leave your heart in your throat as soon as the chorus hits, it is safe to say that FanFixion has been triumphant in his mission to push synth wave into dark unchartered waters.

FanFixion released his 3-track single, Bleach Bitten, on August 11th; stream it in full via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast