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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.”
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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.”
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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.
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And of course, these are the best new dance tracks of the week.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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 […]
Odetari first broke through on Billboard’s charts in 2023, and now he’s officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist.
The Houston producer scores his first entry on the Hot 100 (dated Oct. 12) with “Keep Up.” The song debuts at No. 96 almost entirely from its streaming sum: 5.7 million official U.S. streams in the Sept. 27-Oct. 3 tracking week, according to Luminate.
TikTok has been a huge factor in the song’s growing profile, largely due to a viral dance trend. A portion of its audio has been used in nearly 1 million clips on the platform to date. That activity pushed the song 14-4 on the Oct. 5-dated TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart.
“Keep Up” also rises two spots to No. 6 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. It’s Odetari’s 16th career entry on the chart, and sixth top 10. His first hit, “Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” reached No. 10 in May 2023, followed by “Good Loyal Thots” (No. 8); “Look Don’t Touch,” with Cade Clair (No. 9); “GMFU,” with 6arelyhuman (No. 5); and “I Love You Hoe,” with 9lives (No. 3).
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Odetari’s music style is fast-paced and hectic EDM, a genre that he calls “ODECORE.” Earlier this year, Billboard reported that Odetari has a unique approach to releasing his songs. While the original versions of his songs are posted on his primary Odetari Spotify profile, various other versions and remixes of his songs are released under a separate Spotify profile called ODECORE. “[He] frequently has two to three different versions of records coming out a month,” explained Corey Calder, svp of marketing and creative services at Artist Partner Group, Odetari’s label. “If we were to have that all sit on his page, it would feel cluttered and make it hard for his fanbase to follow and track it all.”
It’s a growing trend that has also been adopted by Odetari’s collaborator and labelmate 6arelyhuman, who releases music under his own name, plus remixes under the name Sassy Scene.
Before Odetari’s music career took flight last year, Billboard reported that in February he was substitute-teaching at a high school in his native Houston. He said that he would even upload his music during school hours. “The students were, like, hitting their dab pens in class, secretly under their sleeves,” he said. “The teachers walked in and smelled it and were like, ‘You should have been supervising the class better.’”
By the end of 2023, Odetari wrapped at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Artists annual recap. He also landed six songs on the year-end Hot Dance/Electronic Songs ranking, including “Good Loyal Thots” and “Look Don’t Touch” at Nos. 16 and 19, respectively.
When remembering his late sister SOPHIE, music producer and engineer Benny Long constantly comes back to one idea. “I think her brain was just ahead of the technology,” he tells Billboard, a tender smile crossing his face.
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It’s a recurring theme in conversations about SOPHIE, the visionary pop producer who died Jan. 30, 2021, at age 34, after falling from a balcony in Athens, Greece. During her life, SOPHIE persistently forged her own path, crafting industrial electronic soundscapes on early breakthroughs like 2015’s “BIPP” and “HARD” that laid the foundation for today’s growing hyperpop scene. After her death, artists, fans and industry professionals of all stripes celebrated her impact on both pop and avant-garde music.
“[Some of] the most influential pop stars in the world are using SOPHIE as a muse today,” explains Bibi Bourelly, who worked with her on the producer’s 2019 remix album. “They were asking SOPHIE, ‘What’s the sound? What’s the next thing?’ You can’t be a fire producer in the pop world today and not know all of SOPHIE’s sh-t.”
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Benny Long
Renata Raksha
Fans are getting a final glimpse into SOPHIE’s musical world — and producers and artists are receiving one final set of reference points from the pioneering performer — with SOPHIE, the producer’s self-titled final album, released in late September. Comprising 16 expansive new songs that oscillate between techno, pop, R&B, ambient and experimental sounds, the posthumous album aims to encompass all that SOPHIE managed to accomplish throughout her influential career — and continue to push the boundaries of pop music even further forward.
Long and SOPHIE started working on the project shortly after the release of her Grammy Award-winning debut album, 2018’s Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides. Inspired by audience reactions to unreleased tracks from her live shows, SOPHIE wanted to create something that “moved, almost like it was a voyage,” Long explains.
That meant winnowing down dozens of unreleased songs, which each had numerous remixes and rearrangements, making for what Long estimates were “900-plus versions” of tracks to choose from. It took the pair years to determine what the artist’s ideal version of her next project would look like — but after spending the COVID-19 pandemic honing the album, SOPHIE and Long locked in a tracklist at the end of 2020 that spanned the producer’s storied career, including “stuff from 2014 right up to the end of 2020,” he says.
When SOPHIE died, she left her brother with 16 tracks in various stages of completion, some nearly finished, others in need of major reworkings. But SOPHIE had spoken at length with Long about what work remained. “It wasn’t like we’d explicitly discussed in numbers that ‘this one is 73% done,’ ” he says. “But there was rarely a situation where I suggested something and she would say, ‘No, that wouldn’t work,’ or the other way around. We were always pretty aligned, and that gave me confidence to finish this album.”
It helped that both SOPHIE’s label, Future Classic, and her estate were eager for the album to be released. With their sister Emily, a music lawyer, helping creatively and from a business angle, all that stood in the way of the album’s release was Long finishing SOPHIE’s work. “I just had confidence from everyone — family, labels, collaborators, friends — which made the whole process that much easier,” he says.
Chris (left) and Logan of BC Kingdom
Rachel Murray/Getty Images
Los Angeles-based electronic R&B duo BC Kingdom — made up of the mononymous performers Logan and Chris — features on three of SOPHIE’s most prominent tracks: lead single “Reason Why” with Kim Petras and electro-R&B tracks “Live in My Truth” and “Why Lies,” both featuring pop singer LIZ. While they finished both “Reason Why” and “Why Lies” in sessions with SOPHIE in 2018 and 2019, “Live in Your Truth” still had missing lyrics when the producer died. “For a while I had writer’s block because I felt like I didn’t know what she wanted me to convey,” Logan explains. “I started asking myself questions like, ‘When’s the last time I saw her? When was the last time we had fun together?’ Those questions became the second verse.”
Bourelly remembers the late-night session at London’s RAK Studios in 2017 that produced her SOPHIE collaboration “Exhilarate,” the new album’s final single. “We were probably in that studio until 8 or 9 a.m.,” she recalls with a laugh. “We would just sit and shoot the sh-t together. We made so many songs that night because we were just trying everything out.”
Kim Petras
Cody Critcheloe
The producer’s sessions were famous for their nonconformity. BC Kingdom’s Chris recalls that it didn’t matter if she was in a proper session or at a house party (as the duo was when it first recorded “Live in Your Truth”); if SOPHIE felt the urge to create a song, she would. “Once she was behind that board, you knew what was about to happen,” he says. “It never felt like work, because she would just tell you, ‘Hop on the mic, have some fun,’ and then she would turn it into a hit.”
That spirit of unbridled fun and rampant experimentation encapsulates SOPHIE’s impact on the music industry at large. Along with influencing the sound of pop music today with her outlandish production and co-writes for artists like Madonna and Charli XCX — who paid tribute to her late collaborator on the brat song “So I” — Long says his sister’s legacy lives on in every pop artist dedicated to making the music fun again. “She never thought that pop and experimental music needed to be different things,” he says. “She thought you could do something wild in pop — to see that happening now is amazing, because that is what SOPHIE was all about.”
This article appears in the Oct. 5 issue of Billboard.
Nestled amid the stark beauty of the Sonoran Desert lies Arcosanti, an experimental urban utopia designed by visionary architect Paolo Soleri.
Located roughy an hour north of Phoenix, Ariz., the remote futuristic eco-city drew roughly 2,500 attendees to the long-awaited return of FORM. First launched in 2014, the three-day music event became immediately beloved for transcending the typical festival experience. As modern festivals continue to compete in a grueling live events industry fighting to stay relevant while competing to be credited for the best-synchronized drone show or which dance stage had more LED screens, FORM rebels against the status quo by cultivating the meaningful connection between musicians and fans. And when it comes time for the music, there are no VIP sections or even artist backstage tents — just musicians walking amongst fans, equally admiring the architectural marvel of the property. And when it’s time to perform, the small stone amphitheater sets the stage for a community of present-minded individuals to sharing a cohesive moment, no frills, just music.
After a five-year hiatus, the festival returned even stronger this past weekend (Oct. 4-6) with a genre-blending lineup of killer acts — including Jamie xx, St. Vincent, Bonobo, Skrillex, Thundercat, James Blake and more.
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Walking into Arcosanti is like stepping onto a movie set from a dystopian sci-fi flick. Brutalist concrete structures, bathed and baked in the Arizona sun, create a visually arresting contrast from the typical major music festival experience. But even after tickets for this year’s FORM sold out in less than 24 hours after the announcement of its return, the boutique festival never lost sight of the key elements that made it so beloved in the first place.
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Here are the top 10 takeaways from the weekend.
1. Stage Dive Into Sustainability
Arcosanti’s eco-conscious philosophy and commitment to sustainability permeated every aspect of the festival. Locally sourced food trucks like Tamale Shoppe and the Phoenix Culinary Collective offered up delicious and eco-friendly sustenance, while readily available water refill stations and a robust composting system minimized waste. The full event execution demonstrated a step in the right direction for the industry and was a tangible reminder that eco-consciousness and a great time can go hand-in-hand.
FORM Arcosanti 2024
Rocco Avallone
2. The Arcology Awakens
The festival stages weren’t just platforms for musical performances; the permanent structures are architectural marvels seamlessly integrated into the landscape and the festival fabric. The Amphitheater, which was topped by a parachute that allowed peeks of desert stars above, captured the intimate essence of St. Vincent, whose Saturday night set was a last minute addition to the lineup. She strummed away on her guitar, sharing moments of bliss with the mesmerized fans seated only a few feet away. Meanwhile, the grand archways of the Vaults stage pulsated with raw energy that enveloped fans in a vortex of bass-thumping sounds.
3. A Starry-Eyed Symphony
The Sonoran Desert transformed into a celestial canvas at night. With minimal light pollution in the remote area, the Phoenix Astronomical Society hosted evening stargazing sessions on the rooftop overlooking the main Amphitheater. On Saturday night, attendees were able to peek into a cosmic light show through high-resolution telescopes as Angel Olsen played in the background, for an experience that was pure magic. The experience was a poignant reminder of our place in the grand scheme of the universe, a feeling that resonated throughout the weekend, even when the music ended.
Beck
Rocco Avallone
4. Beck’s Back in the Desert
Beck, one of the festival’s late addition headliners, delivered a set dripping with nostalgia, tongue-in-cheek stage banter and sonic experimentation. From classics like “Loser” to cuts from his 2019 album Hyperspace, he masterfully navigated his performance, keeping the crowd energized and engaged. It was altogether a testament to his enduring influence and ability to capture the hearts of fans year after year.
5. Jamie xx’s Curated Chaos
Coming off the release of his latest album In Waves, Jamie xx took to the Vaults stage with a cigarette in one hand and beer in the other, clearly prepared to deliver. (Minutes before he went onstage, the British producer was seen still on his laptop, excitedly working on his set.) When the show started, the Grammy-nominated artist flexed his prowess, delivering a masterclass in weaving opposite genres into tunes that left the crowd pulsating with a sense of euphoria.
Overall, his performance was a testament to the beauty of FORM, in how it creates a sonic sanctuary for artists to comfortably experiment, an ambience that helped make it possible for Jamie to dance and smile onstage as he traversed bold transition, like going from trance mix of Ghetto 25’s “Don’t Stop” to a guitar-laden build-up to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.”
6. Kim Gordon, Forever a Sonic Siren
Sonic Youth legend Kim Gordon brought a dose of raw energy to the Arcosanti Amphitheater. Backed by a killer band, she revisited iconic hits like Sonic Youth’s 1990 song “Kool Thing” and showcased newer material that pulsed with an undeniable urgency. Her voice, a potent mix of vulnerability and strength, resonated throughout a crowd illuminated with moody lighting, reminding us of her enduring influence.
7. Bonobo Unhinged
Bonobo, largely known for his downtempo electronic and ambient soundscapes, delivered a bass-thumping, chest-pounding Saturday night set that invigorated a perhaps unsuspecting audience. With thumping house and high-energy techno mixes, he turned up the temperature and set the audience ablaze, a difficult task in the desert heat, but one he pulled off with style.
James Blake
Rocco Avallone
8. James Blake, Bathed in Sunlight
The U.K. multi-hyphenate’s recent crusade against the live event and ticketing industry saw him filling up independent music venues and cathedrals across North America over the past months, making FORM an idea setting for his emotional sonic landscapes. His stripped-down Sunday afternoon set, which included “Retrograde,” “Say What You Will” and “Godspeed,” was full of intricate nuances and delicate compositions, creating a sing-along that allowed the whole crowd to let their inhibitions go.
9. Community & Self-Reliance
This year’s event was troubled by a record heatwave that brought temperatures up to 100 degrees for campers. (All FORM attendees stay in adjacent camping and glamping areas.) Rather than cover themselves in Crisco and lay on a desert rock to accept their fates, a sense of community and cooperation washed over attendees. The FORM community rallied by sharing umbrellas with strangers, making space for newfound friends to sit closely side by side in air-conditioned listening room activations and offering patience and understanding for the hospitality staff, who worked tirelessly to pass out cold drinks and water throughout the festival grounds.
10. Beyond the Music
FORM Arcosanti wasn’t just about the music, although of course it was definitely a major highlight. Workshops on sustainable living, art installations scattered throughout the arcology, a poolside dance party, ambient outdoor sound stages and hifi vinyl listening experiences offered loads to do beyond the music stages. It was, once again, a festival that encouraged a sense of exploration and childlike wonder. At its core, roaming directionless and absent of intent was sometimes the best way to discover the true beauty of FORM.