Dance

This week in dance music: Illenium shared the genuinely tear-jerking backstory of his 2021 track “Brave Soul,” and while half the nation experienced another reason to cry, Moby offered some sage advice after election day. Meanwhile, a new Avicii documentary is coming to Netflix on New Year’s Eve, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan made a cool $28 million on their recent Sweat Tour, Shygirl took us backstage on that run with her Sweat Tour photo diary, Dubfire told us why all is well in the state of techno and the 2025 Grammy nominations were announced, with Justice, Zedd, Charli, Kaytranada, Four Tet and a gaggle of other scene stars getting nominated in the best dance/electronic categories.

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And through all of it, the beat goes on. These are the best new dance tracks of the week.

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Major Lazer & M.I.A., “Where’s The Daddy?”

“Where’s the Daddy” is an old/new venture, with the track dating back to the earliest days of Major Lazer, when the internet was looser, the algorithms but a glimmer in the eyes of the world wide web and Diplo and M.I.A. were working together on her second album, Kala, while also dating. These most O.G. members and affiliates of Major Lazer, the first iteration of which of course also included British producer Switch, reunite 15 years later with the official release of “Where’s the Daddy.” The track is classic early day Major Lazer — a woozy, stoney, dancehall-influenced production that sounds like both Major Lazer, Kala and everything else the artists were releasing around this time. M.I.A. is here with her signature singsong vocals, with lyrics that seem to find her searching for her baby daddy, with the song laced with a sample of a crying baby.

To make the point crystal clear, M.I.A. appears pregnant in the music video — in which she, Diplo and Switch drive up and down the Pacific Coast Highway in L.A. in a Tesla Cybertruck, uniting old sounds and old pals with a nod to an impending dystopic future in which pregnancy is a government mandate and transportation is provided by Emperor Elon. The song is out in conjunction with the 15-year anniversary of Major Lazer’s culture-shaking 2009 debut, Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do, a deluxe re-release of which is coming out next week (on Diplo’s Mad Decent, natch) with a collection of additional unreleased tracks and remixes.

“Major Lazer’s origin story is a jumbled-up mess,” Diplo says in a statement. “It reads more like a villain story. I knew about Switch from being the weirdest and hardest DJ in London, and he was interested in my local scene in Philly — Spank Rock, Amanda Blank, Santigold, Plastic Little. M.I.A. got mixed up in the project when me and Dave were summoned by XL Recordings to make beats for her. I failed miserably, but I made a mixtape, Piracy Funds Terrorism, and Dave had a few bangers around town. We made too many beats for her, so we decided to go record them in Jamaica because the artists there are extremely talented, and the productions were cutting edge. We made this Major Lazer album down there and started a little movement that ended up with a few billion streams. It’s cool to put out ‘Where’s the Daddy?’ now because M.I.A. was the third daddy of Major Lazer.”

Deadmau5, “Re_Jaded”

Like Major Lazer, Deadmau5 is digging into the archives this week, re-releasing his 2007 track “Jaded” on an EP that also includes a new edit by Volaris, a new ambient remix by Deadmau5 along with his own new Re-Jaded” edit. This latter production sands off all the harder edges of the already beautifully smooth progressive house original and forms it into a 12-minute opus that’s quintessential classic ‘mau5. The project is out on Mau5trap.

Qrion, “Keep on Moving Up”

Texas-born producer Qrion releases the fourth single from her forthcoming album, We Are Always Under the Same Sky. “Keep on Moving Up” stacks up layers of synth into a bright but weighty house track, which balances the same ebullience and depth in its themes. Qrion sings about keeping on “moving up, moving up while I”m young,” with the track written about getting sober following a period of addiction after her father passed away. She says the song is about “hitting rock bottom and challenging myself to conquer small goals, gradually working my way up to larger ones. The lyric ‘Don’t Know Where I’m Going’ reflects the uncertainty of my first year of sobriety after rehab, capturing the struggle and growth of finding my path forward.” We wish her well on this path, which includes the release of We Are Always Under the Same Sky via Anjunadeep on January 17.

Will Clarke, Midnight Mass

Longtime scene fixture Will Clarke releases his debut album, Midnight Mass, on Armada Music. The 13-track project is as it sells itself — music to find salvation to in the afterhours. Styles oscillate between buzzy IDM (“Breakthrough,” “Summit”), classic gospel house (“Weekend Love”) and the style of moody progressive house Clarke helped popularize in the last few years as a co-writer on the 2023 deadmau5/Kaskade hit “Escape.” Vocalists including blythe, Karen Harding, Georgia Meek all help bring femininity and soul to the tracks, with blythe’s turn on the album-closing “You Alone” delivering a classic makeout music moment.

Bedouin feat. Iveta, “Better Than This”

After rinsing the tracks all summer at their Pacha Ibiza residency, Brooklyn-based duo Bedouin releases its two-track Into the Wind EP. The project opens with “Better Than This,” a simmering YOLO goes tot he club track about getting loose tonight and dealing with the aftermath tomorrow. The pair have been working on the song for a year, and you can feel the work in the style and meticulous structure of this one. “It’s a song about embracing the present moment, because that’s all we truly have,” they say. “As we journey forward, it’s the mystery of that path that keeps us alive.”

In the techno hall of fame, Dubfire exists alongside the greats. The producer, who was born in Iran and moved to Washington D.C. as a child as his family fled the Iranian Revolution, has been a fixture in the global scene for more than 15 years, playing under both his techno moniker and as half of Deep Dish, his longstanding and beloved progressive house project with Sharam.
The artist born Ali Shirazinia has been putting in work on both projects as of late, releasing his two-track Redacted EP, a collaborative project with Argentinean artist Flug, in late October, shortly after he wrapped a week at ADE in Amsterdam. He played a whirlwind of showcases, including the annual Homeless Homies fundraiser, which donates 100% of ticket profits and a portion of drink sales to homeless shelter in Amsterdam and the home of techno, Detroit.

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Next month, Deep Dish will play their first shows in London in more than a decade, premiering a load of new music to intimate crowds at venue The Cause. Dubfire will also globetrot to Tulum, Mexico in January to play at Damian Lazarus’ annual Day Zero party.

Here, he reflects on ADE, the passing of Jackmaster, the state of techno and more.

1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?

I’m currently in Montreal, recovering from the marathon 12-hour set I played at Stereo with my Deep Dish co-pilot Sharam. That kind of DJing is a dying art so we aim to not just entertain our audience, but inspire the next generation to step up and keep it alive.

2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium

Ultravox’s The Collection on cassette. I didn’t really buy much vinyl — I was purely a cassette tape guy.

3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do or did they think of what you’ve done and do now?

We came to the U.S.A. initially not intending to stay, but the Islamic Revolution forced my parents to take up odd jobs to keep us afloat after we chose to stay. Though they had hoped I’d take up a reputable profession, they nevertheless helped launch the first Deep Dish release and watched in amazement as I began to tour the world over that decade and beyond. They have always been my biggest support.

4. What is the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?

It must have been a pager.

5.  If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into dance music, what would you give them?

Global Communication’s 76:14.

6. What’s the last song you listened to?

Blixa Bargeld and Teho Teardo’s “Starkregen.”

7. You just spent the week at ADE. What are your big takeaways from the experience?

Choose all the panels you want to see in advance and schedule your meetings around them. Do not go out to any parties until Friday, and never try to organize an event unless you work with a local promoter.

8. What were your best ADE moments?

Catching up with legendary dub producer Adrian Sherwood at Melkweg and meeting with Armada at their incredible offices. Deep Dish couldn’t have found a better home.

9. You participated in the Homeless Homies event, which raised money for homeless organizations. Tell us what that program is and why you were compelled to participate?

Donating my name and time by playing an intense afternoon techno set is the least I can do to help the homeless epidemic. It’s inspiring to watch how committed [event organizers] DJ Bone and Ahnne are to easing, and eventually eradicating, homelessness in Amsterdam and Detroit. I wish more DJs, myself included, gave themselves to worthy community service.

10. What’s going on in electronic music right now that you’re most excited about?

The new STEMS feature in Native Instruments’ latest update of Traktor Pro is a game-change moment for DJing and production. I’m also excited by the sheer quantity of dance music which defies categorization, sitting comfortably in between genres and sub-genres.

11. What’s going on in electronic music that you’re over?

Social media and poseur DJs.

12.  You won a Grammy in 2002 with Deep Dish for your remix of Dido’s “Thank You.” Did winning that award change your career in any way?

I can’t say that it had any residual effect.

13. Were you at the awards ceremony when you won? If so, what are your strongest memories of the night?

I recall Coldplay getting an award for their first album and going through the backstage press maze together with them.

14. You posted a really lovely tribute to Jackmaster after his passing last month. Do you have any great Jackmaster memories you’d like to share?

It is still incredibly tragic to think about; his brother who I hadn’t met reached out to me after my post with a very sweet message which was touching. We all knew, and saw, how loved he was by the sheer number of posts which surfaced, and in some way I think that helped our dance music community cope with the loss. I do recall another time where we DJ’d the same event in Valencia, and he was dancing and singing to Danny Tenaglia’s “Be Yourself” in complete bliss when I dropped it at the end of my set. I would notice this often with Jack; he’d become completely immersed in this music as if he was in a trance. It was beautiful to witness that.

15. What’s your take on the current state of techno?

True techno music has honestly never been better; I am buried in quality tracks at the moment, and these are mainly from newer, younger artists. Though it seems to be getting sidelined by this new form of EDM that is cloaked in techno which I find incredibly cheesy and irritating.

16. What artists are you taking inspiration from lately?

Joy Orbison, Chlär, SNYL, Nick Cave, Einstürzende Neubauten to name just a random few…and believe it or not, I’m completely obsessed with Lykke Li at the moment; especially her ü&me EP which is achingly beautiful.

17. What cities around the world feel the most exciting to play in right now?

Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Miami.

18. What’s the best business decision you’ve ever made?

Quitting my day job, which allowed me to pursue my dreams full time.

19. who’s been your greatest mentor and what’s the best advice they ever gave you?

My mother who forced me to park my money in real estate.

20. What’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?

Buy a villa in Ibiza.