Browsing Tag

Melodic House

Sun-bleached tropical-house electronica is served serotonin-soaked in tuftyhead’s next big hit, ‘See U OTW’

Posted on 5 September 2026

Berlin-based producer, instrumentalist and songwriter tuftyhead moved tropical house to the leftfield of electronica with his latest single, See U OTW. Swathed with soul, style and heat, the temperate grooves in the oceanically melodic release arrest your rhythmic senses, while the sticky-sweet, unfeigned accessibility in the vocals puts a humanistic touch at the front and centre of the single, ensuring summer is never truly over as long as you have the sun-bleached and serotonin-soaked single on your playlists.

The solo project of Max Hirtz-Wolf, tuftyhead carries the cross-continental current of a California-to-Berlin artist whose sound stretches through dark-disco, neo-soul and alt-pop without losing its melodic ease. Since relocating to Berlin in 2018, he has kept one foot in restless production and another in community-driven musicianship, also playing bass and composing in Meagre Martin while co-organising the Souljam jam-session collective.

See U OTW feels like all of that movement distilled into one heat-hazed release. The grooves stay fluid, the vocal hooks land clean, and the production has enough leftfield texture to keep its tropical-house sweetness from becoming obvious. Fans of SG Lewis, Roosevelt, Jungle and Kaytranada will feel right at home in the atmosphere of See U OTW, which is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dancefloor-worthy devotion drenched the latest melodic house hit, Until You Wake, by Horizon Beats

Posted on 5 September 2026

Horizon Beats has been emotionally heightening melodic house since 2020, and with their latest single, Until You Wake, they reached peak-sticky sweet transcendence.

Evolving from an ambiently melancholic prelude and first verse, where nothing reverberates more than the emotion from the deep, sombre indie-pop-adjacent vocals, Until You Wake builds into a burst of kinetically bright energy and keeps flexing its progressive muscles to leave your emotions in a head spin.

Until You Wake follows someone standing beside a loved one who cannot wake, saving little memories, collecting stories and promising to wait for as long as love demands. Yet the single refuses to drown in tragedy. Its hopeful melodic-house drop becomes the emotional release, translating patience, resilience and devotion into a bright, body-lifting surge.

Founded in New York by Steven Sinanan and Recardo Ramkishun, Horizon Beats began as a beat-making and instrumental production channel before turning fully towards EDM and melodic house in 2025; it’s always perceptible when producers understand the fundamentals of space instead of only knowing how to make an ‘impact’ through dizzying drops.

Fans of Lane 8, Ben Böhmer, Tinlicker and Elderbrook should get plenty from the track’s progressive lift, tender vocal framing and cinematic electronic reach.

Until You Wake is now available on all major streaming platforms, including YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jules Davidson traced lyrical intimacy through luminous beats in Sparks Can Fly – Extended Mix

Posted on 2 November 2025

JULES DAVIDSON extended her run of soul-sanctifying EDM with the release of her latest single, Sparks Can Fly – Extended Mix. The London-based singer-songwriter turned producer poured transcendence into the sonics to deliver a hypnotically hedonistic slice of melodic catharsis. It proves how deep the call runs for those drawn to the twilight zones of consciousness where strobing synths replace streetlamps and rhythm becomes your tether to the present.

This isn’t EDM for the sake of a dopamine spike. It is a metaphysical sanctuary carved out through oscillating instrumental textures and softly euphoric vocal lines which drift above the luminously layered production. Davidson, who previously made her name as a poignant acoustic storyteller, has taken a leap from heartfelt indie into electronica without missing a beat. The production was polished at Area 18 Studios, where the basslines were pulsed with dancefloor vitality, and alchemy was injected into the atmosphere, for anyone who craves spiritual weight behind their synths.

While Sparks Can Fly rings with traces of 80s synth-pop nostalgia in the vein of The Human League, there’s an unmistakable contemporary nuance that echoes the emotive gravity of acts like London Grammar and Royksopp. Jules Davidson’s shift in direction doesn’t dilute her lyrical introspection — it uplifts it. Lines like “If the future was a dream, made of places never seen, would we turn away?” capture how the thematic core of the track sees the intimate tension of desire and risk wrestle.

Sparks Can Fly – Extended Mix is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

Leirbag X.O. Threads a Sonic Scalpel Through the Ether in the Avant-Garde Electronica Cut ‘Earth Paradise Hell’

Posted on 18 April 2025

Earth Paradise Hell is just one of the viscerally affecting hits in Leirbag X.O.’s discography—if this release is anything to go by, no one will be in line to tell the French producer to watch their tone. Starting out in the vein of a pulse-pounding deep-house anthem, the single quickly transmutes into transcendence to sonically visualise the paradise alluded to in the title. Through arresting quiescence, the cultivated producer compels you to lean into the instrumental soundscape far enough that you can feel the textures bleed into your anatomy, leaving you at the mercy of the concluding chapter of the single which feeds disquieting motifs into the ambience, reaching the epitome of harbingering while never forsaking the diaphanous euphony.

Clearly, Leirbag X.O. grabbed a cleaver and ensured he was a cut above the rest through Earth Paradise Hell—a cut deep enough to expose the full contrast between serenity and dissonance without losing control of either. As part of a growing discography which has earned him over 5,000 monthly Spotify listeners, this release showcases his ability to structure tracks as psychological arcs rather than passive audio wallpaper.

Based in France, Leirbag X.O.—real name Gabriel—is already working on his second conceptual album Awakening of Light, following his debut Annihilation of Darkness, released track by track from October 2023 to July 2024. With ambitions of collaboration and a beatmaker’s instinct for sonic architecture, he’s a producer wired for deeper conversations through sound.

Earth Paradise Hell is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

Spotlight Feature: Annava Put a Fresh Spin on Garage House with His Track, I Know

Posted on 18 January 2024

With structural twists and style transgressions always a feature of his genre-fluid discography, Annava’s self-produced unorthodox approach to sound design is a far cry from electronica monotony. His latest single, I Know, is a transmission of uninhibited expression within an echo of a deeply evocative memory.

Following a year of sonic adventures and collaborations, this Sacramento-based producer has crafted a track that stands as a testament to his evolving artistry. It begins with a subtle introduction, setting the scene for an intimately expansive auditory experience. Annava’s skill in blending genres is evident as he infuses the track with elements reminiscent of 100 gecs and Fred Again while following lesser-explored intersections of sound.

The genius of ‘I Know’ lies in its ability to maintain a grounded edge while exploring melodic realms. The track’s progression is a masterful blend of restraint and release, with every beat and synth wave meticulously placed to build a crescendo of emotional resonance. It’s a trippy, trance-inducing experience that transports listeners beyond the ordinary. The track’s progressive momentum is matched by a sense of euphonic catharsis, leaving listeners drenched in a sea of electronic bliss.

Annava said:

“For this release, I was inspired by UK Garage, 90s jungle, DnB, and old house mixes and the influence of my music teacher who challenged me to add harmonic variation in my tracks.

Mostly, my music has no inherent sentimentality or meaning. I Know became the exception when I chopped up some vocals I recorded for an unreleased track, and it became a reflection of the pain of leaving someone you are in love with.”

Stream I Know on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Naws extolled the virtue of patience in their melodic chill house single, Relevance

Posted on 11 January 2024

Intimacy and innovation became the cornerstones of the latest melodic chill house single, Relevance, from the West Bridgford-residing electronica outfit, Naws. Relevance is an odyssey through the intricate layers of human emotion, crafted with a blend of analog warmth and digital precision while unravelling as a testament to Naws’ Welsh heritage and their passion for creating music that resonates on a profound level.

The track is an immersive sugared pill. Swallow, and you’ll delve into its expansively oceanic depth, where the vastness of the soul is explored, guided by the haunting refrain, “Take your time with me”. This simple yet powerful lyric encapsulates the essence of the track – a call for patience and understanding in a world that often forgets the value of these virtues. It is a reminder of our inherent flaws in a world of fleeting moments and throwaway culture.

Each listen reveals new layers and nuances, making it a track that never grows tired. The use of the Moog Sub37, Roland Juno, and other analog synths infuses the track with a warmth and richness that is increasingly rare in contemporary electronic music.

Naws, with their appearances on BBC Introducing and signings to labels like Freegrant and Hathor, have already established themselves as artists to watch. ‘Relevance’ further cements their position in the melodic, progressive, and chill house genres.

Relevance was officially released on January 1^st. Stream the single on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Melancholia spills into the cosmos with Sub Caesar’s melodically progressive tech house cocktail Into the Oblast (When Will You Be Home) ft Brunetti

Posted on 4 November 2023

Some EDM anthems drop, others make a collision that will make an ever-lasting impression; Sub Caesar’s latest orchestration, Into the Oblast (When Will You Be Home) ft Brunetti, is luxe enough in meaningful momentum to scorch the airwaves on its arrival.

The dark and melancholic anthem, which is drenched in enough yearning and desperation for security and sanctity that it spills pensiveness into the cosmos, pulls together with a cohesion that makes it impossible not to surrender to the mellifluous instrumental layering and the searing soul in Brunetti’s glassy vocal lines. If her timbre sounds familiar, you may have heard her in her tracks featured on Netflix shows, including Selling Sunset, Love is Blind, and The Circle.

By exploring the most elemental trappings of melodic house & techno and progressive house, Sub Caesar produced an evocatively energising Tour De Force, which should necessitate the removal of the ‘sub’ affix from his moniker.

The independent Dutch producer, Sub Caesar, said:

“The inspiration for this track came from one of these heart-breaking clips of soldiers returning home, hugging their children. Amongst all the terrible news and images of war and war victims, his clip touched me deeply. A strong emotion is a good basis for music! The word ‘Oblast’ means region or province in Ukraine. In this track, it stands for any harm a loved one could be in while also being far away from home and the anxiety and special kind of longing that this causes. Having said that, yes, you can hear the actual Kiev air siren in there, pitched down a semitone to match the musical scale.”

Into the Oblast will officially be released on November 3^rd;hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jirko has made their Disco Pop debut with ‘I Feel You’

Posted on 7 December 2020

Finnish-born UK-based artist Jirko brought a potent serving of captivating authenticity to the Disco Pop genre with their debut single ‘I Feel You’. With sharp instrumental hooks and seamlessly transgressions, you’ll be rhythmically hooked from start to finish.

With the entrancing grooves, the distinction within their vocals which ooze sonorous magnetism, I Feel You is sure to be hit with any EDM fan who appreciates electronically expressive beats paired with raw, realistic emotion. If it was possible to fill dancefloors in the UK right now, I Feel You would definitely have people writhing to the ardent energy.

You can check out I Feel You via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

London’s most promising Melodic House artist P!lot has hit the airwaves with ‘Clouds’

Posted on 15 November 2020

“Clouds” is the tantalisingly ominous latest release from up and coming Electronica artist and producer P!lot which is guaranteed to add ingenuity to your melodic house playlists.

With a constraint-less approach to production, the mix offers a dynamism which is rarely offered through electronically-mastered music. That may have a little to do with the artist’s affinity for a versatile assortment of artists. From Nick Cave to Chemical Brothers to Radiohead to Daft Punk, their stylistic nuances echo all throughout Clouds.

There’s a slight hint of pensive trepidation lingering in the atmosphere of Clouds, allowing the track to stay true to its title. Yet, the energy within the momentum allows it to unfold as anything but an aural melancholy fest.

You can check out Clouds via Spotify

Review by Amelia Vandergast