Music

The electronic-oriented Nelly Furtado 2.0 era extends today with “Faded,” a collab with scene queen Hayla. Together the ladies take turns delivering slinky verses over a dark dance-pop production that folds in elements of progressive and creates a foundation for each artist to show off their considerable vocal abilities.

Hayla says the song “is about when you’ve started to become infatuated with someone. The feelings take over as if under a love spell, but it’s a spell you’ve cast on yourself. They were the spark that lit the match. When the other person’s gone you still feel the weight of their presence. It’s infatuation and unrequited love.”

“Hayla is one of my favorite singers,” adds Furtado. “I have literally covered her tracks live (or attempted to!) because I find her vocals and her songwriting so authentic, passionate, inspiring and otherworldly. When she invited me on this track I jumped at the opportunity because it has that classic Hayla aura.”

“Faded” is out on Casablanca/Republic Records. Listen to it here.

A track that first appeared in the Skrillex universe as “Zeet Noise,” via his April album F*ck U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol But Ur Not!! <3>, gets released in slightly different form today as “‘hit me where it hurts x.” With this new one, the original skittering beat (which sounds like its being knocked around in a washing machine) remains, with Skrill and collaborator Dylan Brady (who’ve played several recent shows together) weaving in a vocal from the always welcome Caroline Polachek and doubling the track’s length to nearly four minutes.

“hit me where it hurts x” is out on OWSLA/Atlantic. Listen to it here.

French producer Kungs links with SoCal’s finest Channel Tres on the chic and groovy Italo ass-shaker “Nasty.” The track comes from Kungs’ forthcoming Out Loud LP (set for release in March) and is delivered in tandem with a stylish video, which finds Tres in front of a green screen traversing a flurry of gorgeous landscapes from around what appears to be the American southwest.

“I aimed for a sleek, club-ready track driven by an Italo bassline and a devilishly catchy riff; something sexy, stylish, and made to move – and with the album Out Loud, I wanted to break free from radio conventions and explore a blend of disco and rock influences with total freedom,” says Kungs.

Meanwhile Tress gives context to the lyrics, saying that “when I wrote ‘Nasty,’ it made me think of what we say in Compton when I’m with the homies, when someone does something spectacular, we call it nasty. Or when a musician is playing and it’s funky we call it nasty, or when somebody in basketball gets dunked on, we’ll say that was nasty, it’s really about popping your s–t — letting some one know you’re great.”

“Nasty” is out on Island Def Jam. Listen to it here.

LP Giobbi has accomplished so much in the last few years that it might be easy to forget she was originally billed as the “piano house queen,” a title she once again claims with her latest: “Figure It Out,” made with London’s House Gospel Choir, which has over the years worked with artists including Will Clarke, Rudimental, Syreeta and Floorplan. On “Figure It Out,” the Choir and Giobbi are a match made in house heaven, with the former’s full-throated vocals adding urgency to the latter’s punchy and soulful peaktime anthem.

“Figure It Out” is out on Giobbi’s Yes Yes Yes label. Listen to it here.

The esteemed DJ-Kicks series gets a welcome new installment from Chicago favorite and longtime Smartbar resident Eris Drew. The hefty 20-track effort includes tracks, remixes, and exclusives by Moby, Calisto, DJ Garth, Onionz, DJ Who, Kair, Hoof, and Toka Project, as well as from Drew and her partner Octo Octa, with Drew calling the collection “the funky, emotional, ecstatic house-and-breaks backbone that defines my sound”.

Drew’s DJ-Kicks is out on !K7. Listen to it here.

Released on Nov. 27, 1995, Faithless’ progressive classic “Insomnia” celebrates its almost 30-year anniversary with a fresh edit from fellow Brits Disclosure.

The Lawrence brothers themselves give the best rundown of how the project happened, writing on Instagram that it started at Glastonbury 2024 when “we made a live version of one of the greatest electronic music songs of all time, ‘Insomnia’ by the legendary band Faithless… Faithless were and are still one of our biggest inspirations in the dance music world, especially for putting on a live show with real instruments, incredible lighting and unforgettable vocals by the late Maxi Jazz, may he rest in peace.”

The brothers continue that the group’s Sister Bliss “reached out to us and suggested we put out the version we made as a collaboration for all our fans to enjoy. We couldn’t be more honored to be asked and never thought reworking this track would lead to such a special moment for us… Nothing will beat the original.. ever! But we had a blast making this for our show and we hope you enjoy listening to it.”

Disclosure’s edit of “Insomnia” is out on Sony Music Entertainment UK. Listen to it here.

Kindred souls Griz and Tape B each lend their talents and predilection for psychedelic low to a new collab, “Light You Up,” a stank-face headbanger of the highest order. Debuted during Tape B’s headlining set at Red Rocks Amphitheatre last month and also played at Griz’s Seven Stars festival that same weekend, the song features vocals from emerging artist Creg.

“Light You Up” is out on Griz LLC. Listen to it here.