djfrosty

The Australian producer released the first album of her decade-plus career in October, with the project’s 13 tracks built for the dancefloor but also contemplating themes well beyond the party. “It’s felt like dance music has met me in the middle,” Lunoe told us of writing about topics like motherhood, friendship and all varieties of love. “Dance music’s had this incredible arc in the last five years, or the last 15 years for sure. But in the last five years we’ve seen a lot more sincerity, a lot more real stories being told in the club space, and it made it easier for me.” The project includes the piano house anthem “Real Love” and the hypnotic “Right Here,” a collaboration with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. — KATIE BAIN

“One thing that hasn’t changed for me from the very beginning is a manic curiosity of seeing what I can make out of sound,” the artist born Dan Snaith said when announcing his sixth studio album as Caribou, October’s Honey. The Canadian producer’s use of AI to alter and feminize his voice on the project was a surprise move that created a lot of buzz and critique, but overall the project is inviting and as its name suggests, sweet. The title track encompasses what Snaith does best, and perhaps bridges his work as Caribou and clubbier Daphni alias, with the earworm song driven by a skittering, buoyant bassline, looped vocals and an infectious beat. “Do Without You” calls back to his biggest tune, 2014’s “Can’t Do Without You,” and “Come Find Me” at once feels joyous and bittersweet, a distinctly Caribou mood. — ANA MONROY YGLESIAS

With her debut album Sentimental, Turkish-Italian house producer Carlita proved that the buzz around her over the last few years is well deserved. Released on Ninja Tune on Nov. 15, the project channels melancholy, joy and a range of other emotions in layered, immersive soundscapes in which Carlita plays many of the featured instruments, including piano, guitar, bass and cello. “Planet Blue” with vocalist Cleo Simone and “Forever Baby” with Janet Planet of Confidence Man find a home in her energetic sets, while the rest of the album offers a more downtempo — yet equally compelling — side of her artistry and musical influences. The opening track “Trouble Symphony,” featuring her mentor DJ Tennis, sets the tone for the sonic journey of the album, while the penultimate track “Time” is a euphoric, transcendent number that’s become a favorite closing track for Carlita and her fans since she debuted it at Coachella 2023. – A.M.Y.

It’s no small feat to pull off a sound that’s simultaneously nostalgic and forward-looking, but Charli XCX’s Brat does it in a seamless, sweaty fashion, creating a hedonistic-yet-heartfelt album that melds the mid aughts party girl vibe with today’s breathless, take-no-prisoners hyperpop. From the sparkling, heart-rending dance-pop of “Girl, So Confusing” to the hypnotic electroclash of “Von Dutch” to indie sleaze bangers like “365” and frenetic, brash anthems like “Club Classics” and “Mean Girls,” Brat covers a lot of ground thematically and stylistically, while still feeling like an all-too-brief rush of adrenaline. Charli has always created distinct aural worlds, but this magnum opus feels like the most authentically XCX so far — and that’s the key (no, not the powder-dusted kind) to Brat’s brilliance. – JOE LYNCH

Every remix album thinks that it’s Totally Different but Also Still spiritually in keeping with its original, but only a precious few are willing to put in the work to make them play as such. Charli XCX could’ve phoned in her sequel set and merely gotten a couple extra weeks of Brat Summer out of it, but instead, she turned her career-defining LP into an entire cinematic universe, with countless side characters expanding their own stories alongside her, and dancefloor action sequences that not even the original set could quite compete with. But it’s not all about size and scope: The Japanese House’s appearance on “Apple” helps turn the song into a devastating account of post-breakup alienation and homesickness, while the A.G. Cook-assisted “So I” becomes such a heartburstingly joyful and vivid tribute to “all the good times” with the late SOPHIE that it’s difficult to even think about it without tearing up. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Aussie quartet Confidence Man took the classic “write drunk, edit sober” adage to heart when creating their third album, 3AM (La La La). After relocating to London, the group immersed themselves in the city’s queer club scene, ending nights out, they told NME in October, with drunken songwriting sessions. Their unfiltered musings are immortalized across a fun and high-energy collection of U.K.-centric tracks, with the group choosing life on the stadium-sized trance of “So What,” seeking chemical ecstasy in the drop of “Breakbeat,” and channeling Underworld on the introspective title track. 3AM might stir up hazy memories of your own blurry nights along the way.  — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ

After his stunning, elegiac 2021 album Promises, a meditative collaboration with legendary jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, Sam Shepherd, the British producer who records as Floating Points, returned to the dancefloor this year with Cascade. Shepherd has spent recent years playing shows with accomplished dance veterans like Four Tet and Dan Snaith (the latter under both his Caribou and Daphni aliases), and their influence shows on Cascade – both the most intricate and most driving club music Floating Points has made to date. The heady swirl of acid house, jungle and techno is as meticulous and emotive as Promises – a testament not only to Shepherd’s talent but to his remarkable range. – ERIC RENNER BROWN 

Kieran Hebden’s long, winding career as Four Tet has included moments of indie-blog sensationalism and unexpected arena-set command — but regardless of the size of his profile, his work consistently surprises, spiked with moments that upend dance listeners’ expectations. His twelfth studio album Three is another rock-solid project full of swivels and evolutions, from the twinkling melody arriving on “Daydream Repeat” to the beautiful, morphing dissonance of closer “Three Drums.” As Hebden’s shows get progressively larger (with a standalone set at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum coming in February), Three is also a transmission that, for as big as he’s gotten, his essence remains unchanged. — JASON LIPSHUTZ

“There’s been a lot of biggg mad crazy moments in the last year,” Fred again.. wrote about his then-upcoming album ten days on Instagram back in August, “but basically all of these are about really very small quiet intimate moments.” Hard to ask for a better summary of the appeal of the massively successful U.K. producer or his new album than that: He makes big, floor-filling club anthems that still feel like they’re being whispered to you by a good friend in the hallway outside. Whether it’s Sampha belting about a startling feeling of closeness experienced with a fellow traveler during a traffic jam on “Fear Less” or SOAK sing-speaking about a positive romantic encounter that leaves them stunned and terrified with happiness on “Just Stand There,” the set is a disarmingly emotional and visceral one — with the DJ behind them approximating all the racing pulses, trembling hands and pounding hearts that denote such life-changingly personal moments. — A.U.

The work of bass music’s new cool kids (and IRL pals) ISOxo and Knock2 has caught the attention of genre titans Skrillex and RL Grime (with the former sharing a photo of ISOxo on his IG and the latter working on several collabs with Knock), and their August collaborative LP 4EVR functions as part of a passing application allowing the duo entry into the genre’s highest echelons. The pair load up the album’s eight tracks with inventive tricks and precise production, building huge, stank-face eliciting walls of music, while softer and more analog tracks like “Blind” provide moments of contemplation (and a second to breathe) amid the delicious chaos. — K. Bain

Speaking to Billboard earlier this year, the British DJ and producer said that he finds listening back to his own music “excruciating,” likening it to rereading a cringeworthy diary entry from years past. He’s doing himself something of a disservice as In Waves, the second solo LP from The xx member, rewards repeated listens. The sequel to 2015’s masterful debut In Colour skews closer to the dancefloor than his previous work and sees him reuniting with his band members Romy and Oliver Sim for “Waited All Night,” while Robyn stars on the joyous “Life” and other major players including Honey Dijon and The Avalanches make memorable, effective appearances. The wait was well worth it. — T.S.

Euphoria and introspection share the spotlight on John Summit’s debut album Comfort in Chaos, a culmination of his rapid ascent over the last few years. “Eat the Bass” delivers the booming tech-house grooves with which the producer broke out, while melodic cuts like “Where You Are” and “Shiver” – both Top 10 hits on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – reveal his softer side, turning longing into dance floor catharsis. The album provides a safe space for experimenting, too, such as on the genre-flipping “Go Back” with Sub Focus and ethereal drum ‘n’ bass of “palm of my hands.” A captivating glimpse of the artist behind the party-starting persona, Comfort in Chaos is up for top dance/electronic album at this year’s Billboard Music Awards. — K.R.

If ever there was an argument for taking your time, it’s Justice’s fourth studio album, Hyperdrama. The Grammy-winning duo has never released music on a fast schedule, having only toured four times (and released as many albums) over its 20-year career. But the eight year gap between 2016’s Woman and this year’s 13-track release seemed particularly pronounced. (To be entirely clear, it was also broken up by Justice’s 2018 live album Woman Worldwide and a 2021 solo album from the group’s Gaspard Augé.) Some fans speculated that the pair had broken up — but as it turned out the guys were just cooking up a mean, clean, organically-synthesized machine.

Hyperdrama feels like taking an intergalactic trip in the spaceship featured on the album’s back sleeve, with the project maneuvering through soft melodies, psychedelic freak-outs and sinister synth lines with compelling exactitude. One second, everything on the record is the analog. The next, everything’s electric. Justice says it took inspiration from some of the modern era’s more eclectic hip-hop records, but truly, the most impressive thing about Hyperdrama is how much it doesn’t really sound like anything or anyone else at all — event as it carries major vocal collaborations from Tame Impala, Miguel, Thundercat and more big names. — KAT BEIN

How do you follow up an album that swept the Grammys dance categories in 2021? With his third album Timeless, Kaytranada pushes past the pressure by simply continuing doing what he’s always done: producing impeccable grooves and top-notch vibes. The album recreates a club night with a VIP guest list (Tinashe, PinkPantheress, Anderson .Paak and more), bridging suggestive R&B with disco-steeped grooves and ultra-modern new jack swing. Kaytranada makes room for expansion, too, singing on a track for the first time. So to answer the initial question: He made another Grammy-nominated LP, with the project up for best dance/electronic album at the 2025 awards. — K.R.

The Welsh musician has spent the better part of a decade operating around the edges, her left-field electronica best-suited for intense concentration or relaxation. Dreamstate, then, is Owens’ pop record and was in fact inspired by supporting Depeche Mode on their recent tour and facing the challenge of filling cavernous venues with her sound. Signed to Dh2 – Dirty Hit’s new dance imprint – Owens meets this challenge with “Love You Got” and the euphoric “Higher.” With contributions from her label boss (and The 1975 drummer + Charli XCX fiancé) George Daniel, The Chemical Brothers and Bicep, she retains a singular vision and enters a bold new chapter.  – THOMAS SMITH

Dance music is often guilty of flattening emotional experience, with innumerable tracks about “raging” and “dancing the night away” and all varieties of sexual attraction averting the genre’s metaphorical eyes from the full spectrum of human experience. The opposite is true of LP Giobbi’s second album Dotr, which the producer made while working through the well of grief felt after three people very close to her died in quick succession. That thread of melancholy is woven throughout the 17-track project, with analog violin and piano — along with the very human voices from Alabama Shakes‘ Brittany Howard and Portugal. The Man, among others — creating sonic and emotional texture, offering moments to mourn to, to dance through the pain to and to celebrate life itself with. — K. Bain

On 3FOR82, Machinedrum bridges the past and future with introspection and tenderness. The producer built upon some of his earliest unpublished beats, polishing them into forward-facing sonics that are meditative and spectral, like a foggy night drive. Nostalgia also coats the album’s lyrics, crafted in response to a question Machinedrum posed to his vocalists, who include aja monet, Mick Jones and Tinashe: “If you could visit with your younger self, what would you say to them?” This leads to gruff words of wisdom, musings on the beauty of solitary dancing and sun-after-rain optimism. 3FOR82 encourages reflection, leaving you thinking long after it ends. — K.R.

Peggy Gou committed to an aesthetic on her debut album I Hear You, with the South Korean producer giving all flavors of ’90s dance  — house, ambient, rave — and giving them all her spacious, sprinkled in powdered sugar treatment. (She also committed to doing the debut exactly how she wanted, going as far as booking a flight to the Bahamas to convince Lenny Kravitz sing on the steamy “I Believe in Love Again.”) The last 12 months saw Gou playing several of her biggest sets to date while generally jetting around the world playing to giant crowds, with I Hear You functioning as the centerpiece of her ascension. — K. Bain

It a band stays together long enough, most inevitably make an album about the realities of being in said band. 15 years into their run, Rüfüs Du Sol got into this self-reflective mode on Inhale/Exhale, the Australian trio’s fifth studio LP. Songs like “Pressure” speak directly to the experience of global fame and the expectations that come with. (“You’ll never break me down,” singer Tyrone Lindqvist advises on the track.) The guys told us they entered group therapy while making the project to clear up old resentments and set healthier patterns, with the result of that fine tuning being 15 tracks that match the lush, moody, often overtly romantic ambience of the group’s entire catalog, but which this time are largely stripped of builds/drops — finding the guys in what feels a more mature, but still quintessentially Rüfüs, phase. — K. Bain

Watch one of dance music’s new-gen stars bloom in real time. After joining the Ninja Tune family in 2023, salute released their debut album, True Magic, a collection of colorful and high-shine songs spanning French touch, house, drum ‘n’ bass and racing-video-game immersion. The Vienna-born, Manchester-based producer has long emphasized the importance of community, and the LP reflects that through its many and diverse collaborations, from “lift off!” with Disclosure to “go!” with Japanese rapper Nakamura Minami. In search of a mood boost? Look no further. — K.R.

There’s a thin line between the physical pleasure of the dancefloor and actual ecstasis, with Texas-born, Amsterdam-based hard techno producer Sara Landry exploring the places where these sensations meet on her debut album, Spiritual Driveby. Made with serious intention (the call-to-arms opener “396hz”) and also a sense of giddy and unself-serious fun (“Pressure”) the album dropped in October through her own Hekate label, functioning as both neural salve for people who like heavy music and an exclamation point on Landry’s breakout year. In 2024, she performed a viral Boiler Room set, sold out every U.S. show she played, secured a choice spot on the 2025 Coachella lineup and generally established her electric presence and pummeling sound in the U.S. and beyond. — K. Bain

In a year partially defined by Brat summer, the ever-enchanting and benevolently aggressive presence of mononymous producer SOPHIE‘s influence is vast. The Scottish electronic icon passed away suddenly and tragically in January of 2021 at age 34, and yet the modern dance underground and contemporary pop-charts are mired in the “lightning strike” (as Charli XCX sings it on her SOPHIE tribute “So I”) of her career. She was a majestic maniac in the studio, famously creating mind-bogglingly organic sounds from a digital audio workstation and her sheer force of will. Her DJ sets were loud and challenging, as were productions that helped invent the concept of hyperpop and the Charli XCX we know and love today. Her undeniable talent and in-your-face queerness opened the door for a generation of artists to be themselves, and three years after her death, her brother and close collaborators offered the world one more dose of her genius.

Posthumous records are always tricky and divisive. We’ll never know what SOPHIE would have sounded like if she herself had finished it, but the album’s 16 tracks do encompass the many shades of her being. It’s uncomfortable at times and riddled with earworms the next, exploring a myriad of existential concepts in its lyrics and altogether challenging perceptions of what pop music, electronic music and even just straight up music can be. For that gift, and legacy, we are grateful. — K. Bein

This year’s steamy sports blockbuster Challengers was set primarily on tennis courts, but its soundtrack hailed squarely from the dancefloor. Even independent from its narrative accompaniment, the uneasy, adrenaline-stimulating set is a remarkable achievement by sought-after soundtrack duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – and their best work since creating their landmark score for 2010’s The Social Network. The centerpiece is the pummeling, breakneck-speed title track, but Reznor and Ross flesh out the film’s sonic world with highlights like “‘I Know,’” a radiant synth-pop cut; “Yeah x10,” which channels the LCD Soundsystem-style dance-punk that dominated the mid-’00s era during which Challengers is set; and “L’ouef,” an eerie combination of piano and near-ambient synths that calls to mind The Social Network at its atmospheric best. — E.R.B.

Zedd‘s third studio album drips with a feeling of abundance and ambition. John Mayer firing off a guitar solo and singing on the simmering “Automatic Yes”? Yes! A Jeff Buckley sample melded with Middle Eastern strings on “Dream Brother’? Yah! Muse‘s Matt Bellamy interpolating “Ave Maria” on “1685,” a tribute to Daft Punk as much as it is to god and romance? Heck yeah! The producer threw the kitchen sink at the project, his first LP since 2015’s True Colors, in a way that never sounds overwrought and manages to maintain cohesion as he shuttles between styles, with the album ultimately functioning as a cinematic, soaring statement about where the producer’s head is at, more than a decade after he helped define the EDM era. — K. Bain