December: 7 bass & club music releases you need to hear this month

Mechatok 'See Thru' (Staycore)

There’s a particular benefit to the current iteration of underground club music: the internet allows certain sounds to gain traction across the world in a way that wasn’t possible before. Mechatok, the 19-year-old Berlin-based producer who’s part of Stockholm’s Staycore and London’s Bala Club crews, masterfully blends together present-day pop phrasing, dramatic timbres and heavy swathes of bass to imbue club music with an emotion not found in any other producer’s work. Some of the most compelling songs he’s put out have been backing tracks to crying-in-the-dance earworms helmed by fellow Bala Club member Uli K, and ‘See Thru’ finds him capitalising on what he does best. It’s warm, glittery and beautiful, swelling and falling back in just the right places; it’s bound to facilitate visceral dancefloor experiences for even the shyest of partygoers.

9/10