Dance
Page: 13
In the liner notes for her 2017 self-titled debut LP, Welsh electronic producer Kelly Lee Owens includes a quote by German author and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Whatever you dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Released when she was 28-years-old following a stint working in London’s record shops and as an auxiliary nurse in palliative care, Kelly Lee Owens was a culmination of years of absorbing music and beauty on her journey thus far. The dream to create and produce her own music, something she’d harbored since she was a child, eventually became a reality.
On her fourth album, Dreamstate, Owens is still thinking big. The new record, due out on Friday (Oct. 18), sees her collaborate with dance royalty The Chemical Brothers, as well as one of the biggest names on the circuit, Northern Irish techno duo Bicep.
Trending on Billboard
She’s also newly signed to Dirty Hit – home to The 1975, Bleachers and Beabadoobee – and their dance music-focused imprint DH2 to be their inaugural release. The imprint was set up by The 1975 drummer George Daniel and Dirty Hit general manager Ed Blow; Daniel also appears on the record in a producer role.
“This feels like the beginning of a new phase,” Owens tells Billboard of the move from Norwegian indie label Smalltown Supersound to DH2. “A new team felt right. I’m grateful for the past and the present, but I’m excited about the future because I really do believe that DH2 is really going to show the world some great dance music.”
Where Owens’ previous work was a sparse, sometimes experimental take on techno, house and pop, Dreamstate is more euphoric and maximalist. Lead single “Love You Got” is as radio-friendly as her material has ever been, pairing classic songwriting with pounding drums and synths. “Ballad (The End),” co-written with The Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands, includes a string arrangement by Owens and builds to an emotional crescendo. These were new avenues to explore.
2020’s Inner Song, which reached No.30 on the UK’s Dance Charts, showed hints of this direction. But 2022’s LP.8, a knotty, left field collection, put paid to that clean upward trajectory.
Even so, the collection and her previous work caught the ear of Depeche Mode, who enlisted Owens to join them as a support act on the road for their mammoth Memento Mori tour. She speaks of the awe of opening the band’s shows in US arenas and Mexico City’s Foro Sol stadium, where the Mode headlined to 195,000 fans over three sold-out nights.
“Without knowing it at the time, they really instilled confidence in me,” she says of the selection. The band’s songwriter and keyboardist Martin Gore also gave crucial feedback on Dreamstate during its formation. As did Xavier de Rosnay of French electro duo Justice, who Owens met a decade ago while she was still bassist in the indie band The History of Apple Pie.
The conviction dovetailed with Owens’ role as executive producer on Dreamstate, a new challenge which included recruiting collaborators far and wide but retaining a singular vision. She points to her heroes Björk and Kate Bush as artists who have done so successfully. “It was something that at this point in my career I felt that I wanted and, more than that, needed,” she says. “Initially I thought that that would mean letting go of control more, but when you create with different people across different songs on an album, you have to be surer than ever of your vision.”
Owens was born in rural north Wales and says that Dreamstate taps into some of those formative experiences growing up, even when the creative industries, or simply just taking time to dream and reflect, can feel out of reach particularly for working class artists. “There is no separation between my personal life and what I do music and it’s an all-encompassing thing,” she says. “There’s a lot of sacrifice which a lot of people who don’t do this [career] don’t want to hear about.”
Kelly Lee Owens
Samuel Bradley
She moved to London and began working in record shops including Sister Ray in Soho and Pure Groove in Archway. There she met future collaborators, DJs Daniel Avery and James Greenwood, and began writing and recording her solo material. It has been a story that has stepping stones, gradual increments rather than overambitious leaps. Now she’s at a point in her life where the monumental achievements – she played Glastonbury Festival for the first time in June – mean even more to her.
“I actually didn’t want to be a big, massive, first album success because I watched a lot of my friends or people around me do that and found that they had nowhere to go,” she says. “I want to encourage artists to know that in your 30s you can be reaching a place with your inner confidence. You’ll get those absolutely epic firsts and you know you deserve to be there.”
Another first came through Charli XCX – who is engaged to Owens’ collaborator and label boss Daniel – when she hosted her Boiler Room party in Ibiza, and selected Owens to appear on the bill at Amnesia, her first time performing at the Balearic superclub. She joined a stacked bill including Charli, Shygirl, Robyn, Romy from The xx and more.
She’s a fan of Charli’s Brat and loves that the lines between pop chart hits and the club remain blurred. “We have so many sides to ourselves and as an artist, you need to be free to explore all of it as long as it’s genuinely authentic to you people will feel that,” she says.
Dreamstate is precisely that; all it took, as Goethe wrote, was Owens to be bold enough to begin it.
If you work in dance music, there’s a good chance you’re currently on a plane or train or are otherwise somehow en route to Amsterdam.
Per mid-October dance music tradition, the Amsterdam Dance Music Event, or ADE, is happening this week in the Dutch capital, with thousands of dance industry execs, artists and fans taking part in a dizzyingly robust program that caters to professionals, people trying to get into the industry and people who just like the music. Programming includes representatives from companies including SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Tresor, Tunecore, Empire, Spotify and more.
While ADE always reliably draws industry types from around Europe, the event is also “seeing a notable increase in attendees from the U.S., Africa, and Asia this year,” says ADE’s managing director Jan-Willem van de Ven, “so it’s a good mix of electronic music industries and cultures and global territories that see ADE as a gateway to Europe in a number of different ways.”
With the thriving electronic music scene in Africa gaining more attention and global influence, ADE 2024 is also hosting representatives from the Nigerian festival Homecoming for a special five-panel series on the dance scene in the country and across the continent.
Trending on Billboard
“The roots of electronic music are deeply tied to African music and culture, so this focus felt timely and essential,” says van de Ven. “The culture across many African territories offers so much we can learn from, particularly in terms of creativity and community, and in return, we can hopefully contribute some knowledge of industry infrastructure, things like that. Our collaboration with Homecoming is designed as a mutual exchange, where both sides — artists, audiences, professionals and ourselves — can inspire and grow from each other’s experiences.”
In total, ADE programming is famous for offering more panels, networking events, performances and mixers than a single person could possibly attend, so van de Ven advises that those going create a schedule based on what they personally want to get out of the conference. He also recommends “making full use of networking sessions and our new matchmaking formats, which are great for connecting with the right people.”
Jan-Willem van de Ven
Sarah Wijzenbeek
This year, ADE has also launched a new ADE App that will help attendees navigate the program while keeping their personal agendas on hand, for maximum productivity and likely a fair amount of fun. As always, ADE 2024 is split between PRO programming for industry professionals, Lab programming for those coming into the scene, festival programming for fans, and arts and culture programming for everyone.
Even van de Ven himself acknowledges that it’s difficult to fit everything in over the conference, with his assistant helping ensure he gets everywhere he needs to be. “I’m also just a big fan of everything we do,” he adds, “so I really try my best to experience as much as possible.”
Below are van de Ven’s top ADE 2024 schedule picks across all categories. (All times are CEST.)
ADE Pro
20 Years of Tomorrowland: How to Rise and Stay on Top – Wednesday, Oct.16, 2:15 p.m.
In this talk, Tomorrowland founder Michiel Beers will discuss the 20 year anniversary of the annual Belgian dance mega-festival, offering insights on the strategies that have made it the world’s biggest dance festival.
SoundCloud – Essential Insider Knowledge – Thursday, Oct. 17, 12:30 p.m.
Representatives from SoundCloud will take part in a conversation with Dutch producer Mau P, focusing on how the platform supports independent artists and offering insights on how artists can find success on digital platforms.
From Detroit to Durban: The Learnings of 30 Years of Dance Music – Thursday, Oct. 17, 1:30 p.m.
Artists including Detroit legend Carl Craig and South African producers Major League DJz will take part in a panel exploring the origins and influence of the techno and amapiano genres. The conversation will focus on growing these genres while preserving their cultural heritage and ensuring creators retain ownership.
Amelie Lens x Charlotte de Witte – Friday, Oct. 18, 4:30 p.m.
The techno titans will take part in a panel focused on their individual careers and newfound partnership.
ADE LAB
BIIANCO: How I Play Live hosted by DJ Mag – Thursday, Oct. 17, 5:15 p.m.
Multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ, BIIANCO — whose 2023 viral hit “Against The Wall” aggregated 35 million streams — will give a talk on live performance technology for creators looking to build a live show and integrate live elements into hybrid DJ sets.
DJ Babatr: The Story of Raptor House – Saturday, Oct. 19, 2:45 p.m.
Venezuelan DJ Babatr, a pioneer of the Raptor House genre, will discuss his role in creating a sound that encapsulates the energy of Caracas.
CLUB Lab – Live Showcases (in association with DJMag) – Saturday, Oct. 19, 8:30 p.m.
The nightclub element of ADE’s Lab programming will feature live music, A/V shows and dancing, offering a place for ADE Lab attendees to celebrate at the end of the event.
ADE Arts & Culture
ADE Opening Concert: 50 Years of J Dilla – Wednesday, Oct. 16, 11:00 a.m.
Speakers including Carl Craig and Miguel Atwood Ferguson will celebrate the legacy of game-changing producer J Dilla in the year that artist would have been 50 years old. Atwood-Ferguson & Metropole Orchestra will perform the longstanding Dilla tribute project Suite for Ma Dukes before the ‘Dilla 50’-talk.
ADE Opening Concert: COCON II – Wednesday, Oct. 16, 7:00 p.m.
Designed especially for ADE, the audiovisual live performance by Cello Octet Amsterdam and Nick Verstand will feature a combination of live playing and robotics.
ADE Opening Concert: 24classics presents Philip Glass by Lavinia Meijer & Nikki Hock – Wednesday, Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m.
Harpist Lavinia Meijer and multidisciplinary artist Nikki Hock will present an interpretation of Phillip’s Glass music, with Meijer getting special permission for Glass himself to transcribe his music for harp. Hock, meanwhile, will create visuals in the room.
Festival
Tomorrowland Presents Afterlife – Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Thursday, Oct. 17, 10:00 p.m.
Tale of Us and a collection of other artists will play the city’s famed Ziggo Dome venue for two nights of music.
Barry Can’t Swim – Thursday, Oct. 17, 8:30 p.m.
The rising, award-nominated Scottish producer will perform a show incorporating his signature synthesis of piano playing and electronic productions.
Awakenings Upclose ADE presents Four Tet, Friday, Oct. 18, 3:00 p.m.
The U.K. producer will play an extended six-and-a-half-hour set at Amsterdam venue Gashouder, a former industrial gasworks complex.
Jeff Mills presents: Tomorrow Comes The Harvest – Friday, Oct., 8:00 p.m.
The collaborative project Tomorrow Comes The Harvest was initiated by Nigerian afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen and Detroit techno icon Jeff Mills. Together with keyboardist Jean Phi Dary, the trio toured the globe until Allen’s death in 2020. Now playing with tabla virtuoso Prabha Edouard, Tomorrow Comes The Harvest will present a new chapter of genre-spanning sounds and rhythms.
AMF 2024 – Saturday, Oct. 19, 9:00 p.m.
The night-long festival will feature a host of producers including Maddix, Martin Garrix, Tiësto, Timmy Trumpet and more.
Fred again.. doesn’t do many interviews, but he seemed genuinely delighted while opening up to Nardwuar in a conversation published Monday (Oct. 14). “One of my absolute heroes so I’m just honored to have been in a room with him,” Fred wrote upon sharing the 45 minute chat.
The pair cover a lot of territory during their talk, discussing everything from a night Fred had in New Orleans after an Ed Sheeran show and his thoughts on Sheeran’s live shows generally, to Fred’s current roommate (Henry Counsell of Joy Anonymous) to getting his first copy of of Logic when he was 11 years old.
Fred tells Nardwuar that he’d previously been using a complicated analog method to create multiple tracks, and that his world opened up when his guitar teacher gave him the software that would allow him to layer as many tracks as he wanted. “That was kind of the beginning of the greatest love affair of my life,” Fred says.
Trending on Billboard
Speaking on his long history of working with his friend and mentor Brian Eno, he also talks about how Eno turned him on to U.K. electronic legends Underworld, who he recently went to see at London’s Alexandra Palace with Skrillex. “Sonny walked in and was like ‘This is the rarest crowd dynamic I’ve seen in years,’” Fred recalls of the show. “Phoneless, present, in it, it was all feeling loose in the best possible way.”
Fred also expounds on about how he prefers working in cafes rather than in studios. “There was a coffee shop in central [London],” he says a cafe he liked in particular. “They’d bring out the extension cord, and I got too comfy to the point where I was plugging in interfaces and a mic… It’s nicer to be in the world as opposed to in some closed off, no natural light room.
“I think the reason why I like writing in places that aren’t studios and out in the world is because you get this constant collage of humanity,” he continues, “this thing just walking by, it’s always moving and changing… I think it just keeps your brain alive and moving versus gradually getting stiller and stiller in the vacuum of a dark room.”
He also talks about the personal conversation he had with the Mayor of Perth, Australia, in order to convince city officials to let his team turn decibel levels up by two or three degrees during a recent show there. “‘Two or three?’” Fred recalls the mayor saying, “‘You can push it to 15!’ Shout out the people of Perth.”
The flannel-clad Canadian interview icon then inquires about Fred’s frequent collaborator Four Tet, asking specifically about Four Tet’s early band, Fridge. “I think he’s got this very exploratory, childlike mindset, which makes everything he does have this kind of through line to me,” Fred says. “I think he could do 20 different bands and it would all have the same sort of Kieren-ness to me.”
At the end of the interview, Fred presents Nardwuar with a hand drawn card illustrating major points of Nardwuar’s career and life and a little calendar with a circle around “September 29,” which Fred calls “Nardwuar day.”
It was 3:00 a.m. in Austin, Texas, and Rüfüs du Sol couldn’t figure out the chord arrangement.
The trio had been working for hours, assembling and re-assembling a single chord progression in dozens of different ways. “I think we were on our 30th coffee,” jokes the group’s keyboardist Jon George.
Then, they thought of Underworld’s “Born Slippy (Nuxx),” and the way the 1996 song’s classic intro sort of stutters into existence like passing digital clouds. They transposed this structure onto what they were working on, and there they had it, with the idea helping complete a darkly lush song called “Edge of the Earth.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
It was an in-the-moment creative spark that probably wouldn’t have happened if the guys had been on an afternoon remote work session from separate cities, a method they’d tried when first starting on music for their new album. But with the group’s singer Tyrone Lindqvist based in San Diego, Calif. and George and drummer James Hunt living in Miami, they couldn’t just casually assemble in the studio.
“There was some nerves about how we would finish the next record,” says Lindqvist. “We always knew we were going to keep making music regardless of where we live, but there was some uncertainty about how that was going to play out. We tried writing separately, and it wasn’t really clicking.”
Trending on Billboard
Together, they decided on a series of two week work sessions. They met for two weeks in Austin, then took eight weeks off. They met for two weeks in Ibiza, then took eight weeks off, with the next two week session happening in the Australian group’s former home base of Los Angeles. They’d bring ideas and what Hunt calls an “amazing playground” of instruments to their traveling creative bubble, then go their separate ways and flesh the music out separately.
After 18 months of this workflow, the guys ultimately assembled their fifth studio album, Inhale / Exhale, out Friday (Oct. 11) through Warner Records. The 15 tracks are classic Rüfüs: dreamy and delicate, occasionally dark and full of longing, but never overtly challenging, and altogether built from as much analog as electronic instrumentation.
“Each time we did a block, I feel like we got stronger at exploring ideas, breaking the ice quicker, playing and being very free,” says Hunt. “We’d initially finish around 10:00 p.m. and by the end, because we’d be having so much fun, we’d be wrapping at like, 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. We’d leave those two weeks fatigued, but very satisfied and stoked, because there’d be so much material.”
And in this way, instead of writing being a slog with no end in site, the eight weeks off provided a built in restoration period. Both in and out of the studio, the process was enhanced by the load of wellness practices that have been part of the Rüfüs repertoire for years, with group workout sessions, breathwork, ice baths and guided meditations all part of the routine. “It put us in a really dialed in zone where we felt focused and present and optimized and in a good place,” says Hunt.
But after nearly 15 years and five studio albums, the trio required a bit more maintenance than some diaphragmatic breathing. They’d started partaking in group therapy a few years back, and — recognizing that they wanted their creative space to be, Hunt says, “sacred” and therefore free of interpersonal drama — did therapy during the making of Inhale / Exhale as well. Speaking to Billboard over Zoom from Australia, the guys (assembled on a couch together and all dressed in black) agree that therapy has been valuable in enhancing their communication and creating, Hunt says, “connection that feels way healthier. I think our friendships have improved dramatically as a result of it.”
So too has it helped them navigate the touring lifestyle and its myriad challenges and siren calls. “We began this endeavor to be touring on the road and to be all focused on the music,” says George, “and that would maybe lead to maybe immature decisions. We just didn’t do a lot of growing for a period of time. It was just us relying on each other and being caught up in this washing machine that is being in a band and indulging in a rock star lifestyle for a little bit there.
“We naturally had to do a bit of growing up at some point,” he continues, “and we’re lucky that we were safe enough in that time that we didn’t blow ourselves out, or blow a tire on our bus, so to speak.”
Now, armed with more sustainable life choices and better listening skills, within Rüfüs there’s generally “less pointing fingers,” says Lindqvist, and more “working on communicating as soon as we can in an appropriate space, and not doing it in a room of 30 people, or just before we’re about to go on an interview.”
It’s wise to have brushed up on it all as the Rüfüs du Sol machine has turned back on over the last four months. The guys, who say they enjoy the album cycle process, marked the last one with a massive global tour and a win for best dance/electronic recording at the 2022 Grammys for their track “Alive,” from the album Surrender.
Their two years of touring behind that album began with three shows at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles (which for many attendees marked their first post-pandemic concert), and ended in August of 2023. Beyond a few festival dates in Australia and their ongoing residency at Las Vegas club XS, the guys were largely quiet until this past spring, when they were a late addition to the Coachella lineup, then showed up for a surprise set at Lightning in a Bottle near Bakersfield, Calif. in May. (Lindqvist does not perform during DJ sets, leaving that element of the Rüfüs oeuvre to George and Hunt.)
Rüfüs du Sol at Portola 2024
Stufish
The lead single from Inhale / Exhale, “Music Is Better,” dropped in June, ultimately reaching No. 1 on Dance Mix Show/Airplay earlier this month. Another three singles, (and another DJ set played at Burning Man 2024 and uploaded to YouTube), built hype for both the album and Rüfüs’ September headlining set at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco, their only live U.S. show of the year.
This Portola show drew a giant crowd and found the guys unveiling a new stage set up less focused on lights and lasers and more focused on…them.
“No shade being thrown, but what’s happening a lot in the [live] electronic music scene is a lot more visuals,” says George. “We were playing into that a fair bit on our last couple of tours, with big LED walls and [the like], so we were just excited by showing something different and leaning into the musicality.”
Their Portola set up — designed by their longtime creative director Katzki, who’s also George’s brother — struck a sparer, more industrial aesthetic, with visuals focused on showing the guys playing their instruments in cutting edge IMAG (image magnification), which Katzki was inspired to incorporate after seeing a Rosalía show.
“It’s focusing on the musicality of what we’re doing between the three of us,” George says of the Portola performance. “Now I’m excited for what we’re pushing further for next year.” (Rüfüs has not thus far announced any additional tour dates.) For now, they say having another album out is a success, as are the creative directions they’ve pushed themselves on it, as are the number of fans who’ve been with them for the duration of their career.
Just as they started writing it, they did a guided meditation focused, George says, on “how we were going to feel after writing a record, and what my future self looks like during that process.” (They’d done the same kind of meditation before the 2022 Grammys, envisioning what it would be like to win, and then winning.) During this process, George simply saw his future self, the one who’d just released the album, smiling widely like a cheshire cat. Today on Zoom, he flashes a big grin, like the one he says he’d imagined. They all do.
Jackmaster, the Scottish DJ and producer Jack Revill who co-founded the Glasgow record label and club night Numbers, has died, his family has confirmed. He was 38.
The news of Jackmaster’s death was posted in a message from his family that was shared on the DJ’s verified Instagram account.
He died on Saturday, Oct. 12, in Ibiza after suffering a head injury, according to the statement.
“It is with profound sorrow that we confirm the untimely passing of Jack Revill, known to many as Jackmaster,” his family wrote. “Jack tragically died in Ibiza on the morning of 12th October, following complications arising from an accidental head injury.”
“His family — Kate, Sean, and Johnny — are utterly heartbroken. While deeply touched by the overwhelming support from friends, colleagues, and fans, the family kindly requests privacy as they navigate the immense grief of this devastating loss,” the statement said.
Their words paid tribute to the eclectic DJ’s creative and professional accomplishments, and his role in the electronic music community: “Jack’s passion for music and his relentless drive to push creative boundaries through his work at the Numbers label and Rubadub Records in Glasgow, including discovering countless innovative artists, made him a beloved and pioneering figure in the electronic music community both in front of and behind the scenes. His talent for blending genres and delivering electrifying DJs sets and productions earned him the respect and admiration of peers and fans across the globe. His legacy will continue to inspire, and his impact on the world of dance music will remain indelible.”
Born in 1986, Revill worked at Glasgow record shop Rubadub and was an aspiring DJ as a teen, and adopted the nickname, and later stage name, Jackmaster in reference to the freestyle dance term from the Chicago house scene in the 1980s.
“I never worked for money,” he said in 2012 interview with Resident Advisor. “It was always just like, you would take a record per hour, so an import from Detroit or Chicago or New York was £7.50, which I guess you could say was quite a good wage.”
“I used to love it, even like the smell of the place, I was just obsessed with that shop,” Revill recalled of Rubadub, where he’d get his hands on new promo records and get to borrow them for gigs, access that he noted was “invaluable.” It was there that he built early industry connections and broadened his exposure to every subgenre.
In an interview with Billboard in 2017, Revill credited his 2011 FabricLive.57 mix, which contained foundational Detroit records (Model 500, Inner City, Underground Resistance) and surprises from mainstream pop (Sia, Radiohead, Skepta) as the mix that “catapulted me into being a DJ who has gigs every Friday and every Saturday, and it’s been that way ever since.”
Of the sheer variety of music in his sets, he told Billboard, “It just goes everywhere, then back again. Even I don’t know what’s coming next most of the time. My sets at their most eclectic would include everything I like: house, techno, disco, Italo, dubstep, grime, ’80s pop and everything in between.”
With Jackmaster’s name on the lineup at well-known clubs and festivals, he landed a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix residency in 2014. Among his achievements, in 2016 he was awarded the Sub Club Electronic Music Award at the Scottish Music Awards, and in 2017 he received the Tennents’ Golden Can Award for his contributions to Scottish culture.
Over the years his record label Numbers — which merged his early label Wireblock with Dress 2 Sweat and Stuff — has released dozens of records, with early work from Jessie Ware, Jamie xx and the late Sophie among the label’s discography.
Amid all his successes, in 2018 he was the subject of brief controversy after being accused of sexual harassment at that year’s Love Saves the Day Festival in Bristol, U.K., where he said he was on GHB. In 2019 he spoke with Vice of his experience with GHB and his ongoing remorse over the blackout incident — after which he’d personally met with those identifying as victims, publicly apologized, and taken “an extended period out” to address his substance abuse through therapy and AA. “There’s no handbook for this,” he said of the situation.
But those affected by his conduct at the festival issued a statement supporting his return to music, writing: “He’s taken time out to work on himself and undertaken to never repeat this behaviour towards anyone else in future. He has our staff and the festival’s support in working towards these aims and his own future happiness.”
Post-pandemic he was actively back to gig life and creating mixes, and in 2022 released his Vizor/Early Experiments digital and vinyl set, which was his first full EP.
In an interview with Electronic Groove in March 2024 surrounding his single “Nitro” featuring Kid Enigma, Revill said, “I am building a new studio as a priority, getting back into buying vinyl, and collecting Celtic memorabilia, all healthy addictions for me, except for my bank balance.”
“I’ve been touring worldwide for 15 years. I’m obsessed with DJing. Can’t stop, won’t stop,” Revill told EG when asked about future plans.
Revill’s time on the road in 2024 was often documented by the DJ on Instagram, with a trip to the U.S. being a recent highlight. “Big up everyone who turned up!” he wrote. “Every time I come over to see you guys it seems to get better.”
He last posted two weeks ago about his September gig at the club Hï Ibiza, where he said the “vibe was wicked.” Last month he also proudly shared one of his earliest tunes was being featured in an Apple ad.
“You can’t explain it. It’s a rush from the tip of your toes right up to your head, manifested in a great big grin on your face, for me anyway. I try to let it be known when I’m enjoying myself on the decks,” Revill told Billboard in 2018, speaking of what it’s like to feel the buzz from the crowd.
Charli XCX‘s Brat multiverse expands again today (Oct. 11) with the release of its remixed edition. Given that Brat is sonically and spiritually a club record, the remixed version is an apt and perhaps predictable compendium. But that’s not to say the project — officially and very Bratily titled Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat — simply just pushes Brat further into the sweaty dancefloors of Ibiza and New York and London and L.A.
Nah. While plenty of Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat remains as danceable, if not sometimes more so, than the original, the remit clearly wasn’t to toss out a bunch of tech house edits and call it a day, but to genuinely rework each track on all levels. The project is as much about offering new sounds and arrangements as it is about expanding and deepening the themes of each song through new lyrics from Charli and her collection of collaborators.
In that sense, Charli’s mournful Sophie tribute “So I” transforms into a vastly more celebratory but still deeply nostalgic recollection of the good times the pair shared together. In its more meta moments, the remixes consider how Charli’s life has changed following the success of Brat, with the edits on “Von Dutch,” “Rewind” and others including lyrics about fans who say they like you but then seem to hate you, uncomfortable experiences with journalists and suddenly having a lot more money and a lot more to cross off the to-do list. And while the nonstop element was based around relentless partying, here it’s more about going from the show to the photo shoot to the plane to the hotel room in perpetuity because Charli’s career is going so well.
As on Brat, the artist’s honesty and lyrical specificity are one of the most interesting parts of the project, offering windows into her existence (hungover in a Tokyo hotel room, watching a woman on a Lime scooter vomit in London) and the wild swirl it’s become during Brat summer.
Unsurprisingly, following the album’s creative and commercial triumph, a lot of big names are involved in the remixes (with there presumably also somewhere existing a list of artists who would’ve liked to be on it but didn’t get the invite). The assembled crew includes people in Charli’s immediate orbit — The 1975‘s Matty Healy, who’s the bandmate of Charli’s fiancé George Daniel, the 1975 collaborator The Japanese House, Charli’s current tour mates Troye Sivan and Shygirl — along with further afield collaborators who were arguably lured not by the freewheeling creative opportunities of the project (see the stunning contribution by Midwestern polymath Bon Iver), but also by the chance to step into Charli’s level of honesty.
To that end, Ariana Grande’s appearance on “Sympathy Is a Knife” finds her telling it like it is (for her) with a forthrightness that’s refreshing and genuinely interesting. That same invite was, of course, previously extended to and accepted by Lorde, who, by working it out on the remix, helped show the potential for this project — potential it achieves with a success that’s by now predictable for anything Brat related, but which here also feels totally fresh and often even revelatory.
Here’s a ranked of the 16 remixes on Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.
“365 featuring shygirl”
This week in dance music: We trekked to the Arizona desert for the return of FORM Arcosanti, spoke with SOPHIE’s collaborators about assembling the late artist’s posthumous album, and talked to LP Giobbi for Billboard‘s just out producers issue. Meanwhile Odetari made his debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; Insomniac Music Group launched Insomniac Publishing; Pharrell spoke about working with Daft Punk during his Hot Ones episode; Rüfüs du Sol released their fourth studio album, Inhale/Exhale (more on that next week); and Charli XCX released the remixed version of Brat, called Brat & It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
And of course, these are the best new dance tracks of the week.
Trending on Billboard
Anti Up, What Is Life
Brit producers Chris Lake and Chris Lorenzo have been collaborating as Anti Up since 2018, and talks of a debut album have seemingly gone on for nearly as long. After a few false starts and a major headlining slot at this year’s Coachella, it’s finally here. What Is Life is as in-your-face as its title is existential, loaded with whomping basslines, heaving tech house and old-school flourishes made for dark rooms — a nod to the Chrises’ U.K.-dance roots. Some of the tracks here are singles Anti Up have dropped over the years, such as the revved-up “Shake” and groovy “Chromatic,” but there’s plenty of new material, too. Check out “Shambles,” a cut of cavernous techno with swelling synths, wailing sirens, and raw vocals channeling Underworld’s Karl Hyde. Altogether, it’s high-energy electronics and massive punk energy that’ll make you eager to f–k up a dance floor. — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Flying Lotus, “Ingo Swann”
Steven Ellison has been working on a couple of outside projects in recent years, scoring the Netflix anime series Yasuke and writing/directing V/H/S/99 and Ash. But it seems the producer is circling back to his own work as Flying Lotus. After popping up in August with “Garmonbozia,” his first new material in two years, Ellison is back again with “Ingo Swann,” named after the late American psychic. “Ingo Swann” is full-on four-on-the-floor, a gleaming cut bristling with brisk percussion and bubbling lofi synths. It seems like there’s still more yet to come: In a recent interview with Hypebeast, he shared he’s working on a new album that’s “98% done.” — K.R.
Dom Dolla & Tove Lo, “Cave”
Aussie hotshot Dom Dolla goes drum ‘n’ bass on his latest single and collaboration with Swedish alt-pop artist Tove Lo, “Cave.” The genre is new to their pair’s catalog, but it looks good on them. “Cave” is sultry, self-aware, and a little dangerous, as Lo narrates a tale where the lustful grip of temptation triumphs over self-preservation: “I know all your tricks and you lick your lips, because you know I’m gonna cave.” It’s a killer hook that can shake up the club and the radio.
“I used to play a lot of shows in New Zealand in the early days of my career,” Dom Dolla says. “Drum and Bass has always had a timeless place in the scene there and it rubbed off on me as a youngster. I took the influence with me everywhere. After playing an evening of house/techno at clubs in the U.S., I used to love closing the night out with a DnB record or two. Even if it was simply as an energetic escalation and the audience I was playing it to didn’t understand it at the time. Fast forward to 2024, the genre has exploded, and it’s understood by all. I love that there are no rules anymore.”
“He played me a barebones version of the track, pretty much just the main synth in the verses and some of the chorus drums,” adds Lo. “We started riffing on melodies and quickly had it down. I took the track home with me and worked on the lyrics. I felt like the chords and the beat had this haunted but sexy energy about it. It was giving the hot toxic ex you’re not over. So, I decided to tell that story.” — K.R.
Maddy O’Neal, Vital Signs
Bass producer Maddy O’Neal is out with her third album, Vital Signs, with its 10 dually hard-hitting and etheric tracks emphasizing why she’s becoming an increasingly well known name in the genre. But of course success rarely, if ever, comes overnight, with the Colorado-based producer having hustled for over a decade to get here. Vital Signs thus aptly started coming together at the beginning of the year, when O’Neal had some time off to consider her original influences and how to fuse them with the skills she’s developed while making music for the last 12 years. “I brought it back to the heavy hip hop/soulful sampling influences I leaned into at the start,” she writes, “while really ramping it up with big sound design and taking it up a notch in terms of production. Those effective decisions are heard throughout the album, which fans can also hear live as O’Neal tours through the U.S. through the end of the year. — KATIE BAIN
Camelphat, “Deep Inside”
Coming in the wake of their 2023 album Spiritual Milk, British duo Camelphat release the simply titled B-Sides EP, six tracks that capture the soaring, prismatic big room house and melodic techno sounds the pair have become beloved for since their emergence. “Deep Inside” captures this sound most effectively, with waves of synth and a long build giving way to a dexterous, hard-hitting release. The project is out on the pair’s own When Stars Align imprint. — K.B.
Amelie Lens, “Falling for You”
If you’ve been Shazaming Amelie Lens’ set-closing tracks lately to no avail, you’re in luck. On the heels of two major open-to-close shows in New York City and Los Angeles, the Belgian producer has released her latest and much-anticipated single, “Falling for You.” The track falls somewhere between hard techno and trance, elevating heart rates with its driving beat and sharp percussion. Lens balances that sharpness with softness, overlaying it with soaring synths and a sugar-coated vocal expressing even more saccharine sentiment: “And I, never felt so loved, I am falling for you/ And I, and my body awakes, I am returning to you.” With a closer like that, it’s hard to not go home happy. — K.R.
JoJo Siwa is a fan of Beyoncé, even if a joke she made at the Industry Dance Awards did stir the pot this week.
The Dance Moms alum jumped in on a runaway internet bit Tuesday (Oct. 8) when she shouted out the “Break My Soul” vocalist on stage at the ceremony, telling the crowd: “I also have to say thank you to Beyoncé, just so that we can keep the dancing community safe.”
“Beyoncé, you’ve got great music,” Siwa added at the time as audience members simultaneously groaned and laughed. “We all love to dance to it. We all love you. … Someone had to, and I will be the someone.”
Though the “Karma” singer’s thank-you may seem genuine enough, it actually ties back to a trend of some social media users jokingly giving Bey flowers at every opportunity to stay on her good side and/or maintain prosperous careers. Some people, however, have applied a darker meaning to the joke amid so-far unsubstantiated rumors that the 32-time Grammy winner and Jay-Z are linked to Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged crimes, as the Bad Boy Records founder is currently being held in custody as he awaits trial for charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Trending on Billboard
When asked about her joke by Us Weekly one day after the Industry Dance Awards, Siwa said, “the internet’s going to run with whatever it is they run with.”
“They do their thing, and I can’t predict what they’re going to do,” the 21-year-old TikTok star added. “I think Beyoncé is great and she’s written a lot of incredible music that we’ve all used [and danced to].”
But while Siwa and other people on the internet aren’t taking certain comments about Bey seriously, the “Texas Hold ‘Em” artist’s legal team is. After Piers Morgan platformed Jaguar Wright on his show Uncensored, allowing the singer-songwriter to make claims about the Carters being “monsters” who have hundreds of victims, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s lawyer instructed the polarizing media personality to remove the content from his channel — and Morgan obliged.
“Their lawyers contacted us to say that those claims were totally false and have no basis in fact,” Morgan said on another episode of his show earlier this week. “We’ve therefore complied with the legal request to cut them from the original interview. Editing interviews is not something we do lightly on a show called Uncensored. But, like the proverbial cries of fire in a crowded theater, there are legal limits on us, too. And we apologize to Jay-Z and Beyoncé.”
Pharrell Williams is the latest guest to test his taste buds on Hot Ones, and while he was feeling the heat of the increasingly spicy chicken wings before him, the multi-hyphenate artist opened up about working with some of his long list of collaborators.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
When host Sean Evans asked him about his teenage years “jamming out” with soon-to-be fellow superstars like Timbaland, Missy Elliott, the Clipse and more, Williams that it felt like “kids having fun.”
He continued, “We didn’t know where it was going to end up. That’s the thing, falling in love with the process. It’s not necessarily the ‘there,’ it’s the ‘getting there,’ it’s the ‘going,’ it’s the process, it’s the journey.”
Later on in the interview, Evans listed off some of Williams collaborators, and challenged him to share his first thought about them in the studio. With Daft Punk, Williams noted that being in the studio with a “robot” is “euphoric, because you’re around two absolute masters.”
Trending on Billboard
Beck, Williams says, is “one of the most eclectic people with one of the deepest mental libraries of all kinds of records,” calling him a “walking almanac.” He wrapped up by calling N.O.R.E. “so funny, bombastic with the energy he wants to evoke when he’s making a song.”
Beyond releasing his biographical Lego film, Piece by Piece, on Oct. 11, it’s gearing up to be an exciting next few months for Williams. The star will serve as a co-chair for the 2025 Met Gala among a group of Black men including Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and honorary chair LeBron James.
This year’s theme is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which draws inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.
Williams’ Something in the Water festival will also return in April 2025 after being postponed last month. “Dearest Virginia, I love you with all my heart,” he wrote in a statement at the time. “Nobody loves you more than I do. Virginia doesn’t deserve better, Virginia deserves THE BEST. So SOMETHING IN THE WATER has to match that. It just isn’t ready yet.”
Watch Pharrell Williams on Hot Ones below.
Insomniac Music Group is expanding with the launch of a new publishing vertical, Insomniac Publishing. The current Insomniac Publishing roster includes 2Night Management (which represents the artists Matroda, San Pacho and Bruno Furlan), Aryay, Avi Snow, Benni Ola, Jasper, Joris Mur, Mattilo, Nuala, Omer Horovitz and Rami Jrade. Members of this group have writing credits […]