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Thundercat‘s “Them Changes” is steeped in funk history, with drums that nod to The Isley Brothers‘ “Footsteps in the Dark,” stutter-stepping at 82 beats per minute, and a wobbling bass line. On Sept. 22, the TikTok account Ezzsounds posted a simple remix of the track, pushing the tempo until the song catches the jitters. This new version was a world away from the slow-and-low original — at 114 beats per minute, it’s like a train threatening to jump the tracks. TikTokers loved it.
“By the next Monday, we had already seen the streams double,” says Will Slattery, vp of North American marketing operations for the independent label Ninja Tune. The company sent an official sped-up rendition of “Them Changes” to streaming services and worked with marketing companies to increase the new version’s exposure on TikTok. The single cracked Billboard‘s Hot R&B Songs chart in October, a first for Thundercat as a lead artist.
“Sped-up tracks feel like a thing, but I was not expecting it to happen to Thundercat,” says Josh Berman, who leads marketing efforts for the artist’s management company, Really Happening. “I’ve seen trends happen and they’re gone in 72 hours. We’re really blessed that this one’s still going.”
Sped-up versions of songs, especially older ones, have thrived on TikTok for years — Cafuné’s “Tek It,” Demi Lovato‘s “Cool for the Summer,” Ellie Goulding‘s “Lights,” Sam Smith‘s “I’m Not the Only One,” and Nelly Furtado‘s “Say It Right,” for example, all enjoyed streaming bumps thanks to the success of uptempo reworks. This style now appears to be on the verge of reaching a new level of mainstream exposure. “Sped up songs are becoming insanely popular,” says Tyler Blatchley, co-founder of the label Black 17 Media, which has producers working on pell-mell renditions of many major-label tracks.
“Back in the day, we used club remixes to diversify the visibility of a record,” explains Nima Nasseri, global head of A&R strategy for Universal Music Group’s music strategy and tactics team. “The purpose was to bring back visibility to the main version. Now people are discovering the main version from the sped-up or slowed one. Instead of spending $50,000 for a remix from a big-name DJ, you’re spending relatively minimal amounts [on a sped-up rendition] and getting much more return and reach.”
“These remixes have been a thing for a while,” adds 20-year-old Tristan Olsen (xxtristanxo on TikTok), who has amassed more than 3 million followers on the app with videos of him playing tempo-shifted edits, usually in a red-lit room, while sporting dark sunglasses. Happily for him, “the industry is catching up now.”
It’s easy to survey TikTok or scan streaming charts and conclude that songs which zip along at a breakneck pace are popular on the app. It’s much harder to explain why.
The genre known as nightcore, which also centers on music that’s sped up and pitched up, was popular long before the debut of TikTok. Nightcore eventually filtered into the PC Music scene, which spawned artists like SOPHIE and A.G. Cook, who went on to work with pop stars (Charli XCX, Madonna). But its hit-making power was negligible compared to TikTok’s sped-up song ecosystem.
Steven Pardo, digital marketing director at Secretly Group, believes that “in a video platform that prioritizes catching attention immediately, being able to get the impact of the lyrics across more quickly is advantageous.” On top of that, “dancers [on TikTok] love the chipmunk versions” of songs, according to Kuya Magik, a producer and DJ with more than 11 million TikTok followers.
Part of TikTok’s power also stems from the way it makes room for users to fiddle with songs and upload their versions of popular sounds, changing the stakes of fan engagement. “We’re seeing in consumer surveys how much Gen Z wants to actively participate in music,” notes Tatiana Cirisano, an analyst at MIDiA Research and former Billboard reporter. “They don’t just listen and consume passively; they make their own videos, remix the song.”
This ethos doesn’t only impact TikTok through sped-up tracks. The platform is awash in “sped-up versions, slowed-down versions, clap-track versions, versions that are super heavy on reverb, like turned-all-the-way-up-to-11 kind of sh–,” says Johnny Cloherty, co-founder of the digital marketing company Songfluencer. “Everyone’s experimenting with this stuff.” Jacob Byrnes, director of creator relations and content strategy for Universal Music Group’s music strategy and tactics team, recently had a meeting with a TikTok marketing company that informed him that 80% of the top 100 sounds on the app were tempo-altered; some sprint, while others crawl. (A rep for TikTok declined to comment.)
There are a number of popular TikTok pages that specialize in this material — not only KuyaMagik and xxtristanxo, but also Itsjovynn (9.7 million followers), Spxedupsongs (5 million followers), Speedysongs (2.7 million followers), and Bestspedup (2 million followers). Now artists and labels are paying some the creators in this niche to edit their tracks, seeking to harness their promotional firepower; these accounts seem to have captured some of the king-making abilities once reserved for top influencers like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae.
While some of these pages post remixes along with eye-catching visual clips, others don’t do much more than post a new version of a track next to its lyrics. Ezzsounds, which helped launch Thundercat’s “Them Changes” onto the Hot R&B Songs chart, hails from the latter camp; the account is more than 700,000 followers strong. Pardo from Secretly Group has his eye on the page Ex7stence (4.4 million followers), which recently helped popularize sped-up versions of songs by Phoebe Bridgers and Bon Iver. “The velocity of sounds that come off that page in the past couple of weeks has been fascinating,” Pardo says.
Historically, the music industry has not been comfortable with unauthorized remixes. Nasseri and Byrnes even initially encountered some resistance from artists’ teams when they started pushing to release official tempo-altered versions of singles. “It was six months of explaining to people what this is and begging them to approve it,” Nasseri says.
“There was a long period of ‘trust us on this,’” Byrnes adds. His pitch: “This is the new remix. This is better than a remix.”
Suffice it to say that “long period” of doubt has come to an end. “I see artists dropping the sped-up version with the official one on release date to try to see if that catches on and points back to the original,” says Johnny Minardi, vp of A&R at Elektra Music Group. “It’s become one of those alternate looks to try to start the song or get a little bit more life out of it.” Two marketers say it’s routine for them to pay TikTok accounts to put out edits of songs they’re promoting; the cost is usually between $50 and $200.
Interscope just released an accelerated version of Summer Walker‘s entire Last Day of Summer project, billing it as the “first sped-up album.” UMG does “bulk agreements” with Xxtristanxo for remixes of its music, according to Byrnes. “He has 3 million monthly listeners [on Spotify] from these remixes — they generate so much money for us and for these artists,” the executive says.
The Spotify account Sped Up Nightcore, which only posts uptempo remixes of songs from Warner Music Group, is earning close to 2 million plays a day, according to the Spotify for Artists app — numbers many acts would hack off an arm for. (While none of Sped Up Nightcore’s releases on Spotify have any public credit information, Warner is claiming ownership of most of these songs on YouTube; a rep for Warner did not respond to a question about the label’s relationship with the account.)
Kuya Magik, who also does remixes for UMG, says messing with a track’s tempo and posting it on TikTok “doesn’t always work — but if that sound goes in front of the right person, you’ve got a gold mine in terms of a viral song.” Case in point: Cafuné’s “Tek It – Sped Up” has more than 95 million Spotify streams, almost as many as there are on the original, which surely makes it one of the most commercially successful singles in this style. (Minardi signed the band to Elektra.) The popularity of the jittery “Them Changes” on TikTok led weekly streams of the original to triple from mid-September to mid-October, according to Luminate. Slattery from Ninja Tune says streams of the rest of Thundercat’s catalog increased as well.
Most executives who have engaged with the sped-up ecosystem agree that it’s particularly effective for reviving songs that are more than 18 months old. “It’s a great avenue for promoting catalog tracks,” says Slattery. “People enjoy sped-up versions of songs that they already know” — like “Them Changes,” which already had more than 150 million Spotify streams before its recent surge. “When there’s familiarity with the song to begin with,” Slattery continues, “it helps it go farther and increases demand.”
That means there’s a potential opportunity for record companies. “If I was a label with a big catalog, I would start creating three to five versions of all my biggest hits with different tempos,” Cloherty says. “I would just have a producer on staff creating them nonstop all day every day.”
“What would ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ sound like sped up?” he wonders. “I don’t know. But that could be the next TikTok hit.”
It’s been a full decade since Flume unleashed his first collection of sonic specimens, with his self-titled debut album. To celebrate, the Sydney producer opens the vault and drops “Slugger 1.4 [2014 Export.WAV],” an expansive cut with a belting beat and all the fades and feels of old-school Flume, which somehow never found a home.
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“Made this one in Paris, always loved this demo but it never quite made it onto an album,” writes Flume, known to friends and family as Harley Streten. “I figured now that it’s 10 years since my first album was released it would be a good time to share. Hope you like it.”
Released through Future Classic, Flume was a critical and commercial success, blasting to No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, winning the J Award for Australian album of the year, and setting him up for the biggest stages on the planet.
The album was so influential, Flume would radically change his sound to escape the copycats.
Next up was Flume’s 2016 LP Skin, which won the Grammy Award for best dance/electronic album, the ARIA Award for album of the year, and its first release “Never Be like You” won triple j’s Hottest 100 countdown.
Like its predecessor, Skin hit No. 1 in Australia, but it also gave the electronic music star his first U.S. top 10, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart. His 59-date world tour in support of the album sold over 300,000 tickets, reps say.
In 2019, Flume’s Hi This Is Flume mixtape earned him a second Grammy nomination for best dance/electronic album and his third and most recent studio LP, Palaces, from May 2022, is up for six ARIA Awards and recently scooped a J Award nomination.
Following a run of headline U.S. dates and festivals, Flume returns home this week to wrap up his world tour, starting Friday with a sold-out show at Perth’s Red Hill Auditorium.
As the music industry and realms beyond denounce antisemitic statements made by Kanye West, A-Trak has entered the conversation via a Twitter thread regarding the origins and dangers of antisemitism.
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In the thread posted Sunday, the producer spoke to his own experience as a “very moderate Jew,” noting that “as someone who supports the Palestinian cause and doesn’t agree with the vast majority of Israel’s actions, it would take a lot for me to call sh– out.” He later writes of the “sorrow” of recent “antisemitic sentiments that have been regurgitated by prominent people in the Black community.”
While A-Trak (born Alain Maklovitch) does not call out West by name, he does have a significant history with the rapper. In 2004, A-Trak became West’s first tour DJ, with the pair working together for years in the early ’00s and A-Trak even introducing West to Daft Punk, the French icons West famously sampled on the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Stronger” from his 2007 LP Graduation.
“The last few weeks have made me reflect a lot,” A-Trak writes. “I think there’s something about growing up in the relative calm of the 90s that made me turn my attention / sympathy towards the plight of other people, other minorities. Maybe I assumed people knew what Jews have gone through.
“But a lot of current events are extremely alarming and hurtful, and need to be acknowledged as such. The conspiratorial nature of antisemitism creates a climate of distrust and blame that escalates very quickly. There are patterns that can’t be ignored.
“Saying that Jews control ANYTHING — the media, finance, whatever — is antisemitism, it’s hate speech, straight up. Because it perpetuates these old conspiracies and myths and feeds distrust and hate. This can’t be downplayed.”
The statement continues: “What has compounded the pain lately is that some of these antisemitic sentiments have been regurgitated by prominent people in the Black community,” the post continues. “Speaking for myself, as a DJ who plays Hip Hop and House music — Black music, with love — this has brought a deep sorrow.
“But I wholeheartedly understand the need for some Black Americans, who were robbed of their history AND whom the education system failed, to dig into the past, to explore, to search for answers. We just need certain things to be accepted as bogus, as wrong.
“What we DON’T need — and I don’t want to get into any specific people or examples here — is for disciplinary action to be taken too far, into humiliation. That just perpetuates the distrust and America’s systemic problems.
“What I’m seeing is: Jews are hurting, re-living old trauma and getting more and more fearful. Black people are hurting, feeling chastised and dehumanized. And white supremacists are chilling, enjoying the show. That’s not ok.
“We shouldn’t even be looking at celebrities for any of this. What we should be doing is teaching each other about our histories and understanding each other. Love to my Jewish brothers & sisters, my Palestinian brothers & sisters, my Black brothers & sisters. We need to heal.”
Read the complete statement below in the thread below.
A-Trak’s reflections come as many in the music industry and beyond also speak out to denounce antisemitic hate speech in the wake of West’s racist and antisemitic actions and statements, which have since led to myriad consequences for West. At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony this past Saturday, John Mellencamp stated: “I cannot tell you how f—ing important it is to speak out if you’re an artist against antisemitism.”
I certainly didn’t expect the year 2022 to bring a rise in antisemitism. But here we are. I’m going to attempt to touch on a few points, as painful as it is… because I think we need a dialogue, and there’s a lot of things about antisemitism that are still misunderstood. 🧵— Nappin 4Tay (@atrak) November 7, 2022
This week in dance music: The scene went international, with the MTV EMAs announcing that David Guetta and Bebe Rexha will perform at the awards happening in in Düsseldorf, Germany on November 13. (The pair is nominated for best electronic and best collaboration for their unstoppable collab “I’m Good (Blue),” which they will also presumably perform.) Even further afield, Tiësto and Tate McRae partnered on the single “10:35,” which was created in partnership with Dubai’s new ultra-luxury resort Atlantis The Royal. The song is accompanied by a music video highlighting the new high-end destination, and will appear on Tiësto’s upcoming album Drive, due out Feb. 24 via Atlantic Records.
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Whether you yourself are getting out this weekend or hanging closer to home, we’ve got the tunes to fill your headphones. Let’s dig in.
John Summit feat. Hannah Boleyn, “Show Me”
Few dance artists have had as big a 2022 as John Summit, the hard-partying mega-productive house wunderkind who’s been tearing through clubs and festivals in a post pandemic blaze of glory. The latest from the Chicago producer is “Show Me,” a wind-up house-leaning electropop heater with an intoxicating earworm vocal loop from London singer Hannah Boleyn. “from edc to coachella to ultra and more, Show Me has been my go to track all year and it’s finally out,” Summit wrote upon the track’s release at midnight. Now available for your on-demand listening pleasure, “Show Me” comes in at just under three minutes as a petite but mighty slice of peak time intensity. That said, we recommend the five and a half minute extended mix, both of which are out via Summit’s own Off the Grid imprint. — KATIE BAIN
Jason Derulo & Shouse – “Never Let You Go”
Have you been yearning for the big room anthems of the peak EDM era? This new one from Jason Derulo and Shouse taps a bit into that epic feeling, but with a modern and tempered R&B twist. Mr. “Want to Want Me” delivers a silky-smooth and sultry vocal performance over the Australian-New Zealand duo’s synth-heavy house rhythms. “Never thought the legend Jason Derulo hearing our music evrywhere [sic] in Ibiza would lead to a collab like this,” Shouse writes on Instagram, “but love what he’s done!” Let this one play loud when you’ve got to dance yourself clean of a heartbreak, or are just looking to let loose from Friday to Sunday. – KAT BEIN
Mount Kimbie, MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning
The setup of Mount Kimbie’s latest double-album, MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning, is a bit unusual. In the vein of OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, the LP is presented in two halves, each half produced by one of members Dom Maker and Kai Campos. No surprise then that they’re also stylistically different. Maker’s Die Cuts, inspired by his move from London to L.A., takes advantage of his new collaboration-ready environment to build a feature-stacked (slowthai, Danny Brown, James Blake, Kučka, et al.) record swirling with rap, R&B, and soul.
Meanwhile, Campos’ City Planning goes deeper into electronic music’s futuristic roots, producing almost sketch-like, textured instrumental loops, each some combination of driving, dreamy, and industrial. In its entirety, City Planning could be the soundtrack to a 4:00 a.m. drive, perhaps on the way home from a warehouse party. Somewhere between the drum-focused drive of opener “Q” and the white-noise ambient of closer “Human Voices,” “Transit Mat (Flattened)” plays out like a tense highway trip in pouring rain. With its relentless rhythm, waterlogged atmosphere and blunt blockiness, it instantly evokes stark, grayscale images of concrete, metal and bright headlights softened by the storm. MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning is out now on Warp Records — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Skream & Jansons, “World Is Empty”
Lace up your roller skates and put on your blacklight reactive neon. Skream and Jansons just dropped a freestyle bass banger that feels like adult night at the entertainment-plex. A beautiful vocal sample from The Surpremes complements a haunting vibe, thanks to the deep, dark and minimal production, matching the emptiness of Diana Ross’ broken heart. Truly, the synth organ breakdown is downright spooky, but the bumpin’ ‘80s beat pits this night time tune squarely in the dance floor space. It’s a cool one, and it’s out now on CircoLoco Records. We even think the extended seven-minute version is the proper way to catch the electro groove. – KAT BEIN
Hugel & Blond:ish feat. NFasis, “Tra Tra”
After Hugel remixed Blond:ish’s single “Sete” earlier this year, the two producers have teamed up for their own collaboration, “Tra Tra.” Like on the former song, Blond:ish continues to explore different cultural influences alongside international collaborators, this time pulling up with the Latin house-loving Frenchman as well as Dominican rapper NFasis. Together, the three made a total bump-and-groover of a track: the production seems most at home in an Ibiza superclub, with a bass-heavy rhythm that’s as melodic as it is hip-grinding, and as dark as it is sexy, while NFasis’ gravelly vocal delivery feels like a command to dance and never stop moving. With a recent shout by Pete Tong on his BBC Radio 1 Dance show, “Tra Tra” already has a big stamp of approval. — K.R.
The Toxic Avenger, Yes Future
The Francophile vibes are strong on the latest from French producer The Toxic Avenger, who’s back with his first album in 15 years. The all-around excellent Yes Future gives heavy French Touch, synth and electro vibes, giving equal parts Justice, Kavinsky and the best of The Toxic Avenger himself. Released in September, the album’s lead single (the aptly titled “Getting Started“) is a stunner, and the rest of the LP is also equally tough and sensual and tres, tres cool. — K. Bain
Gryffin & Maia Wright, “Sometimes You Know”
Gryffin has long been a purveyor of brightly massive bangers big enough to fill the large-scale venues he frequently plays. No surprise then that the producer’s latest LP, Alive, is absolutely full of them, with the high-energy, high-emotion LP containing a flurry of previously released singles including the recent and exceedingly sleek Tinashe collab “Scandalous” along with the pop-forward chest-beater “Sometimes You Know” featuring Swedish singer Maia Wright. Alive is the San Francisco producer first album since his 2019 debut Gravity, which hit No. 1 on Dance/Electronic Albums, and the fanbasae that sent him to the top spot is still clearly here for Gryffin, who this weekend plays a pair of headline shows at Los Angeles’ 20,000 capacity State Historic Park. — K. Bain
As part of our annual Indie Now package, we asked notable figures in the independent scene to offer advice on how to succeed in the industry. Below, electronic producer/digital artist Pat Lok talks to Billboard’s Katie Bain.
I was lucky enough to write an NFT clause into an indie single deal of mine back in February 2021, via the Australian label Club Sweat [a subsidiary of Sydney-based record label Sweat It Out]. Verbatim, the contract said, “Licensers shall retain exclusive rights to create and exploit NFTs in connection with license masters.” I actually did exploit that for my Alaska drop, a collaboration with Party Pupils, on [NFT marketplace] Catalog in October 2021.
[These clauses] allow you to be versatile in a way that’s reminiscent of the SoundCloud and Hype Machine era, where the energy was, “Who knows what we’re going to do today?” You can talk to your audience and get them excited about something you’re dropping tomorrow. That’s something labels traditionally shy away from. Often, it’s hard to get even a same-day response from a label because they’re so busy.
The thing to keep in mind is that a lot of NFT collectors are already following artists they like or have found [out about] through the Web3 space, so the marketing of NFTs is really driven by artists doing the legwork. My perspective is to consider the value-add [of a label]. There are a few different scenarios of how they may be involved with an NFT project, but a lot of labels are not even really thinking about it yet because even the majority of artists don’t yet know how to do this. It’s cool if you’re able to say, “We agreed upon 10% for the gross of my share.” That seems super fair, as it’s similar to an agent contract. Meanwhile, the manager/artist split on this stuff is also all over the board, and that should be as important [as a conversation with a label] because the manager is going to be talking to the label side.
These clauses are niche, but very important, and I think the standard is being built deal by deal right now. It’s important we have conversations about NFT clauses so that artists, especially new artists, don’t just give up their NFT projects before knowing what they’re worth. It’s just like with your masters.
This story will appear in the Nov. 5, 2022, issue of Billboard.
“Miss You” continues to double up on Billboard‘s multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated Nov. 5), with one version surging by Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz and one by southstar.
Oliver Tree and Schulz storm three spots again this week (7-4), after debuting three weeks ago at No. 10, earning top Streaming Gainer honors with their version of the song. “Miss” motors with 5.9 million official streams, up 16%, and sales of 500 downloads, up 193%, in the U.S. in the Oct. 21-27 tracking week, according to Luminate.
Concurrently, the track improves on Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs (4-2) and bows on Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales (No. 13).
The twosome is not alone with “Miss You,” as Berlin-based southstar (aka Leon Kirschnek) starts on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with his version of the song at No. 11, fueled by 1.6 million domestic streams.
“Miss You” has the distinction of having two separate but very similar versions, with the first released by southstar in late July; a second, by Robin Schulz and Oliver Tree (whose track “Jerk” is sampled on the southstar version), dropped less than a week later.
Fred again.. Again
London-based producer/singer/DJ Fred again.. (real name Fred Gibson) debuts at No. 25 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with “Delilah (Pull Me Out of This).” The track, which begins with 803,000 stateside streams, is the fourth and highest charting hit from his album Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022), released Oct. 28.
Fred Again.. has tallied 10 titles on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, starting with “Don’t Judge Me,” with FKA Twigs and Headie One (No. 23, February 2021). His haul includes “Delilah” and three other songs from Actual Life 3: “Bleu (Better With Time)” (No. 30, Oct. 1), “Danielle (Smile on My Face)” (No. 45, Oct. 8) and “Kammy (Like I Do)” (No. 48, Oct. 22). His collab with Swedish House Mafia, “Turn on the Lights Again..,” featuring Future, is his top-charting entry (No. 16, this August).
TELYKast Has Good Reception
Shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay tally, TELYKast bounces into the top 10 with “Body to Body” (11-6). It’s the act’s third top 10, after “Nobody to Love,” with Loren Gray (No. 8, June 2021), and “Unbreakable,” with Sam Gray (No. 2, December 2021).
“Body” is scoring core-dance airplay on SiriusXM’s BPM, Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel and iHeartRadio’s Evolution Network, among other outlets. (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 70 top 40-formatted reporters.)
Grammy Award-winning DJ and producer Tiësto joined forces with multiplatinum singer-songwriter Tate McRae and Dubai’s new ultra-luxury resort Atlantis The Royal to create their new single “10:35.” The song is accompanied by a music video highlighting the new high-end destination, and will appear on Tiësto’s upcoming album Drive, due out Feb. 24 via Atlantic Records.
“I’m very excited to be partnering with this iconic new property,” said Tiësto. “Tate and I wanted to create a song that captured the energy of an experience at Atlantis The Royal, and I’m proud to say the feeling of 10:35 and this property are both infectious! So excited for the world to finally hear it.”
“I’m happy to announce I’m doing a partnership with the Atlantis The Royal property in Dubai with Tiësto,” added McRae. “It’s always exciting to branch out and work with different brands and artists,” added McRae. “The music video is unlike anything I’ve seen before, and the hotel is just unreal.”
Encapsulating the essence of Atlantis The Royal, “10:35” is inspired by Dubai’s newest addition to its skyline. When first introduced to the resort’s architectural plans — the resort was designed by NYC’s Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates — Tiësto honed in on the duality of the daytime experience of luxury versus the nighttime’s focus on entertainment. This juxtaposition fueled the idea for the time where day turns to night and the experience that comes with that shift — hence, “10:35.”
McRae, who spent time growing up in the Middle East, proved a perfect partner for the track.
Slated to open in early 2023, Atlantis The Royal is 43 stories at its highest point and boasts nearly 800 rooms, dozens of pools, multiple celebrity chef-led restaurants and a skybridge connecting the two main sections of the resort.
Atlantis The Royal Dubai
Courtesy Photo
“We are beyond excited that Tiësto, a music icon, and Tate McRae, one of today’s hottest stars, have joined forces to create this incredible track to celebrate Atlantis The Royal,” said Tim Kelly, managing director of Atlantis Dubai. “’10:35′ completely captures the vibe and energy of the hotel and expresses the unmatched daytime and night-time experience we have to offer. Shooting the music video at the resort is a show stopping way for us to tease our guests and demonstrate the unrivaled luxury Atlantis The Royal promises ahead of the Grand Reveal in January. This is it.”
“The whole team at Atlantis The Royal have been a pleasure to work with throughout this campaign and Atlantic Records couldn’t be more grateful for their partnership,” added Jonathan Feldman, svp of brand partnerships and sports marketing at Atlantic Records. “Tiësto and Tate McRae created such an incredible song that aligns perfectly with the property. From start to finish the stars have aligned on this and we’re thrilled for the launch of “10:35′.”
Check out the music video for “10:35” below.
This week in dance music: we recapped the whirlwind that was ADE 2022, the dance world mourned the loss of producer Mighty Mouse, we went inside the Kyiv club that opened for one night amidst the ongoing war, we got exclusive Dirtybird Campout West 2022 sets from a trifecta of acts, we met the production wizards behind Porter Robinson’s Second Sky festival this weekend, David Guetta and Bebe Rexha hit the apex position of Dance Mix/Show Airplay and the CW Network announced that it will air the U.S.’s first ever all electronic awards show in May.
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As for new music, we’ve got that too. Let’s dig in.
Fred again.., Actual Life 3 (January 1-September 9 2022)
It’s here. After months of waiting and what’s felt like an open faucet of singles — including scene-uniting collaborations with Four Tet and Swedish House Mafia — Fred again..’s Actual Life 3 is out today. AFter becoming the moment’s most relevant electronic producer following a post-pandemic run of buzzy, teary sets including Coachella and record-setting Boiler Room performance, Fred Again..’s latest album makes good on the considerable hype, providing 13 sonically and emotionally nuanced tracks cobbled together from digital ephemera, pulling off the rare achievement of being as rich in meaning as they are effective on the dancefloor. — KATIE BAIN
Alison Wonderland, “Down the Line”
When you’re feeling low and the future looks dark, one of the best forms of medicine is a scream-along anthem about being down in the pits. Alison Wonderland is a magician when it comes to moody lyrics and spirited drops, and her latest single “Down the Line” is exactly the sort of re-energizing depression candy any good “I can’t get off of the couch because life sucks” moment requires.
“We need the dark times in order to get to the light,” the artist says. “We need that experience to know that it’s going to be okay one day. The track is me acknowledging that I was alone during a difficult time but knew that I was going to get through it and be okay, down the line. We’re all going through a dark time right now, and sometimes we need to be reminded that it’s going to be okay. No matter what happens, we will be okay.” – KAT BEIN
Jimmy Edgar Feat. LIZ, “EUPHORIA”
With his new single “EUPHORIA,” Detroit producer Jimmy Edgar shares another preview of his forthcoming album LIQUIDS HEAVEN, out on November 11 via Innovative Leisure. The track is a concentrated dose of ear candy, made of pastel synths that swirl with the richness and silkiness of milk chocolate, and bright background melodies that sparkle like sonic Pop Rocks. And like how eating sweets leads to a woozy sugar rush, “EUPHORIA” too is about chasing that buzzy peak in love. Through the track’s chest-swelling builds, vocalist LIZ declares: “I’ll keep looking for you / I’ll keep looking for euphoria.” Edgar’s latest is all confectionary goodness without the risk of cavities. — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Anyma & CamelPhat, “The Sign”
CamelPhat make their debut on Tale of Us’ Afterlife Recordings with “The Sign,” a collaboration with producer Anyma. A moody, multi-movement progressive house soundscape made for that moment late night turns to early morning, “The Sign” delivers a lot of head nodding deep in the dancefloor moments along with a few satisfyingly crunchy synths, all over an urgent beat that sounds like it’s being beamed to your earholes from deep space. — K. Bain
Ten City, “Love Is Love”
When you know, you know, and true love can’t be stopped by parents or friends or ne’er-do-well of any kind — not when it feels this silky smooth. True Chicago house and R&B legends Ten City come through with a jazzy, feel-good number that’ll get you real cozy on the dance floor with your favorite cuddle buddy, and remind you that “Love Is Love,” no matter what form is takes. In the words of Ten City co-founder and vocalist Byron Stingly, it’s a “modern Romeo and Juliet meets West Side Story!” This is for the grown and sexy among us, but it’s a message that will resonate with anyone who’s found themself enamored or thinks they’ve found the one, and certainly those among us who have been told their choice in partner isn’t “right,” even though nothing about it could ever feel wrong. It’s the second and titular single from Ten City’s forthcoming album Love Is Love, due out in 2023. – K. Bein
J. Worra feat. Nathan Nicholson, “Lightning to Strike”
From opposite sides of the Atlantic, Los Angeles’ Insomniac Records and London’s D4 D4NCE—Defected Records’ imprint for rising stars—have joined together in a new collaborative venture. Their first joint release, the single “Lightning to Strike,” comes from J. Worra, who’s previously graced both labels with her modern house sound. On “Lightning to Strike,” J. Worra dips into a bolder palette with a bouncy, retro-futuristic bassline; melodic keys and laser-beam synths which balance out Nathan Nicholson’s breezy croons and wispy vocals. Altogether, they create a song that’s as mellow and melancholic as it is hopeful. — K.R.
While KiNK may not yet be a massive name in the States, the Bulgarian producer is revered by those in the know. Both Diplo and Claude VonStroke have called him one of their personal favorites, while many in the scene cite him one of the best live acts in techno at large.
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Born Strahil Velchev, the producer is based in his native Sofia, Bulgaria, where he grew up behind the Iron Curtain, the only music he had access to being that which was government-approved. That era is a long way from Velchev’s current reality, which involves traveling freely across international boundaries to play music that likely wouldn’t have been approved behind the Iron Curtain.
Having released music under Ovum, KMS and his own Sofia label, KiNK’s latest release is a swirling, brightly ravey edit of the 1999 Midfield General track “Coatnoise,” with Midfield General’s Damian Harris himself requesting that Velchev take on the song. Out today (October 28) via Harris’ Skint records, the release comes ahead of KiNK’s upcoming whirlwind run of U.S. shows, which includes a November 10 date at Elsewhere in New York, a November 11 show at Public Works in San Francisco and a November 12 set at San Diego’s Love Machine festival, the lineup for which also includes Dixon, Denis Sulta and Pan-Pot.
Here, Velchev reflects on the “two extremes” of U.S. fans, his love of Silk Sonic and the best advice his grandmother ever gave him.
1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?
I’m just back in my apartment in Sofia, Bulgaria after an exhausting weekend, which started on Friday and finished yesterday. My two-year-old daughter is getting her afternoon sleep; I’m in the living room, enjoying the silence after a few days of loud sound blasting in my ears. It’s a bit of chaotic here, my daughter’s toys — blocks of Lego, cars, some animal figures. And other toys we share together — two little synthesizers and some cables. You have to watch your step!
2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?
It was vinyl, probably around 1986, an album by the German Euro Disco band called Modern Talking. It’s one of the very few projects I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit that I liked, but back in the day in Communist Bulgaria this was some of the most exciting dance music the government would approve to appear in the record stores — alongside another act produced in Germany and I really loved back then, Boney M.
Back in the ’80s, all the music on the Bulgarian market was manufactured by Balkanton — the only record label, also owned by the state. The vinyl was cheap, probably costing the equivalent of one Euro or a dollar in the modern terms. But there was not that much of a choice, you wouldn’t see Chicago House or Detroit techno on the shelves in the store.
3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do or did they think of what you do for a living now?
Both of my parents studied law and worked for the state, which meant not getting a big paycheck, but having some sort of stability. They never understood my passion and didn’t support it, but also they didn’t try to stop me. They hated their jobs. They were happy I was spending my time in a creative way. My mom would often say, “I don’t mind what you do, but the sooner you realize it’s not going to work, the better for you.”
Luckily they were wrong, so far. After about 10 years completely committing myself to producing and DJing, around 2009 I was able to support myself financially and my parents started helping me with some office work related to my trips; they still do it til today. They still don’t like the music, but they are happy for me.
4. What’s the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?
To be honest, nothing significant for myself. The most notable treat was a second hand Opel Astra, I think it was model 2008, for my girlfriend, now wife. It was for her, because I still don’t know how to drive. Still, beside some of my extravagant purchases of music gear, we don’t spend that much money on material things. We like to travel and to try good food. I guess this will change as our child is growing.
5. If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into dance music, what would you give them?
LFO’s Advance is a very important album for me, and I used to recommend it to friends who were getting into electronic music, because I believe it’s easy to digest, but also its very musically rich and intelligent. There are tracks with different energy levels, fast and slow. Dreamy melodies and punishing kick drums. A bit of everything, but it all sits together extremely well on this album. It still grows on me after 24 years of existence. I’m sure these days there are better records to introduce somebody new to electronic music, but I guess you are most impressed with music when you are a teenager or in your 20s. I was a teenager in the ’90s, and I’m very connected to that era.
6. What’s the last song you listened to?
We were in the car with my wife earlier today and our good friend Krista, a Bulgarian singer, was presenting her new album on the radio station we usually listen on the road — Jazz FM. So we listened to Krista’s U Doma. The song she describes as Bulgarian Folklore singing tradition meets gospel. The lyrics are about home. Today I can relate to that, after such an extreme weekend spent at hotels and airports.
7. You’re the favorite producer of many producers. What are you doing that no one else is doing that’s elevated you to this status?
I don’t think my approach in the studio is unique, I’m just very dedicated, because I really love the process of making sound and music. I’m trying to do what I would like to hear from other artists. I love simplicity in any kind of art form. I’m looking for a strong element in my tracks — it could be a drum pattern, a catchy melody or a really unusual sound. If I feel like the demo is boring and I have to improve it with studio tricks in the arrangement, I would rather delete the sketch and start again.
I also like the music to be a bit irritating. When I got into Techno in the early ’90s, I loved it, because it was like nothing I’d heard before, and it was that irritating, atonal element of this music, which fascinated me the most. I try to keep that in my music too. And last but not least — I love to have a certain character in my sound. Regardless if I record my track through a pair of guitar pedals or I use software plugins to achieve a non-existing sound color, that last touch is important to me. And it can take a lot of time, sometimes longer than arranging the track.
8. You’ve also got a sort of enigmatic mystique. Do you consider yourself mysterious? What’s a normal day like for you?
I believe I’m the opposite of mysterious, but indeed I don’t share much about my private life on the internet, because I haven’t got that much of a private life for a long time. I was learning how to become an international artist for a decade, and now I’m an international artist for over another decade with crazy touring and recording schedule, and that sums up the past 20 years of my existence as an artist.
Luckily for me, my wife Rachel Row is a singer/songwriter and she has been very patient with me over the years, because she has the same passion for music. Normally our day would be doing office work in the morning, going together for lunch — and the rest of the day it would be studio, together or separately. We love to jump in the car spontaneously and escape from Sofia for a few days every now and then. Since we are parents, everything is more compressed — no private time, less studio — but also a lot of fun right now. We are even more offline beside announcing work, because we want to give our daughter the privilege to be anonymous, until she can decide for herself.
9. Tell us a bit about the dance scene in your native Bulgaria. What are the parties like? What do audiences respond to?
The scene over here is similar to the rest of the world. There is a massive commercial EDM scene, which gets the biggest crowds, but I can’t say much about it, because I don’t follow it. From the promoters I follow, on the bigger scale, my friends Metropolis stand out. They have been active since the mid-’90s and still deliver high-quality techno and house events with up to 10,000 visitors — giving the crowd what they want, but also educating with fresh international talent.
Faza (Фаза) is another party organization, which is doing very well, specializing in a more cutting-edge, niche sound of techno, and I really appreciate their work for the scene in the past few years. There are also a lot of warehouses and underground clubs around the city, which I am excited to discover. I can say I am missing out a lot being on the road every weekend.
10. You don’t play in the States all that often. Why? Where do you spend most of your time?
I generally don’t play as much as the DJs do. I mostly play live sets, which means harder traveling, getting very little sleep — because I need to soundcheck before the venue opens. Also flying out from Sofia often means more connecting flights. I play mostly in Europe. Then I go to North America and some parts of Asia twice a year, and once a year touring Australia and New Zealand. I completely ignored big parts of Asia and Latin America, but I’m excited to discover new territories when my setup becomes simple enough.
My trips to the U.S. are short, in and out in the more recent years, but it’s always a pleasure. My favorite music comes from the States. The crowd that comes to my shows is very educated, and every visit is quite inspirational. Saying that, I’m just in a process of renewing my U.S. work visa in order to come to play in November — really looking forward to it!
11. What do you make of American audiences and the U.S. scene in general?
The American audience is great. I see two extremes: people who have tremendous knowledge about this music, which is born in the U.S., and other people who have no idea and just want to have a good time. I love both. I can’t decide what’s a bigger compliment. If someone with great knowledge tells me I played great, or a new clubber to tell me he or she heard of me for the first time and it was amazing.
12. What cities are the most exciting for you to play in, currently?
After the pandemic I’m excited to reconnect with a lot of the usual suspects like London, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Chicago, Tokyo. I’ve been to all these places since we are back to normal, but I can’t get enough!
13. Midfield General’s “Coatnoise” was released in 1999. How did you come to remix a song that’s 23 years old?
I have massive respect for Skint records, for the amazing music they released through the years. Some of it was made by the founder of the label, Midfield General. When the General himself asked for a remix, I had to do it! It was a pleasure. I am quite happy with the result and flattered to rework a solid classic!
14. Do you have any guilty pleasure music? Would we ever catch KiNK listening to pop? Country? Is it all techno all the time?
I don’t feel embarrassed by any of the music I listen to right now. I was not into bands or pop music through most of my life, but since we started to travel often with my wife in our car around Bulgaria in the past few years, I started enjoying the music Rachel is listening to. I started liking Beyoncé, also Solange, I’ve been a big fan of Sabrina Claudio for few years now. I love Anderson .Paak also, and his project with Bruno Mars, Silk Sonic. We are enjoying Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino. I love everything Pharrell Williams is involved with.
15. What artists are you most excited about right now?
From the dance music scene right now, I can’t get enough of Fadi Mohem and Stef Mendesidis — both amazing DJs, producers and live acts. I’ve seen Fadi once and I couldn’t stop dancing. Cant wait to experience Stef, I think he is coming to Sofia soon. Outside the techno circle I am very exited about Kamaal Williams — absolutely amazing keyboardist, mixing jazz music with new influences. I had a chance to see him live and he delivers! Also Kaelin Ellis, a multi instrumentalist and studio wizard, doing modern instrumental music, based on funk.
16. The most annoying thing currently happening in electronic music is _____ ?
Seeking perfection.
17. If you could go back to any era of dance music history, when would you go and why?
I would go back to experience the early to mid ’90s. This is my favorite period, because thats when I discovered this music and I was most passionate about it as a music fan. I would like to experience it again, but not as a kid listening to the records at home. I would love to experience the actual raves happening back then, which I missed.
18. What’s the best business decision you’ve ever made?
Having my focus on my art and skills instead of the business side of my work. All artistic decisions I took had fantastic effect on my business. Of course, that wouldn’t be possible if I hadn’t gotten a strong team who believed in me and helped me with decisions, which are out of my competence. Starting with my first agent Kai Fischer, who helped me to kickstart my career, my current agent Alma Ernst, who helped me to grow as an artist in the past nine years, and Ryan Smith, working with him for North America from day one.
19. Who was your greatest mentor, and what was the best advice they gave you?
My grandmother was my greatest mentor, unfortunately she passed many years ago. She couldn’t see me touring the world, but I still remember her strength and her words. She was constantly pushing me to dedicate myself to arts and to be a citizen of the world and that everything is possible. All this sounded like an hallucination back then in bankrupt, post-communist Bulgaria, but somehow she saw the future for me. Sometimes when I feel weak I think of her, one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.
20. One piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
To be much braver in everything: music, business and personal life.
A new awards show is bringing dance/electronic music to prime time. On Thursday (Oct. 27), The CW Network announced it will air the World Electronic Music Awards this May 27.
The show will be taped on May 18 in Las Vegas as part of the run-up to the annual dance music mega-festival Electric Daisy Carnival. The festival takes place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway May 19-21. It’s not yet clear if the festival’s producer, Insomniac Events, will have a hand in the awards show.
The two-hour prime-time event plans to award electronic music greats from around the globe and will feature the first Electronic Music Hall of Fame inductions. Producers note that the major awards categories are European, Asian, North American and World Artist of the Year. Performers and hosts for the show will be announced in the coming months.
“We are so excited to be working with The CW on the World Electronic Music Awards broadcast,” says the show’s creator and executive producer Andy Ruffell. “We are introducing a new format for the show, including regional and world awards, plus Hall of Fame honors with EDM superstars accepting. We are also working with The CW digital team on global livestream, Metaverse and Web3 components. We will be announcing some big music industry partners shortly.”
While the Grammys include two dance/electronic categories — best dance/electronic album and best dance/electronic recording — the awards have never put these categories on the telecast, instead including the genre in the livestreamed Premiere Ceremony. Other awards shows, including the Billboard Music Awards, also include dance/electronic categories; however, the World Electronic Music Awards is the first prime-time awards show in the United States devoted entirely to the genre.