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Jam City announces new club-ready album ‘Jam City Presents EFM’

The new single ‘Times Square’, sampling Omar S and featuring Aidan, is out now

Jam City has announced his new album ‘Jam City Presents EFM’ will be released on June 1 via Earthly/Mad Decent.

The 10-track release features collaborations with Aidan, Clara La San, Empress Of and Wet, and is described as a “love letter to the purest dancefloor experiences imaginable.”

A new track and video, for ‘Times Square (feat. Aidan)’, has dropped to accompany the announcement, with a danceable, funky beats that samples Omar S alongside Aidan’s emotive vocals.

The LP is set to remark a return to a club-focused sound, more akin to his debut album ‘Classical Curves’ which made Jam City an icon of contemporary dance music upon its release in 2012, creating the stripped-back and staccato blueprint for the deconstructed club music movement.

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His follow-up records ‘Dream A Garden’ and ‘Pillowland’ turned more towards hazy soundscapes and dreamy pop sounds, while he's also turned his hand to producing for pop and rap stars such as Olivia Rodrigo, Kelela, Lil Yachty, Troye Sivan and Joji.

The lead single from the album ‘Redd St. Turbulence’ landed in February and showed Jam City sounding his most urgent and floor-focused in years, with a propulsive beat and vocals from hardcore band Show Me The Body's Julian Cashwan that was said to be “an ode to the tension in the air and disorientation of nightlife confrontation”.

‘Time Square’ shows some continuation of his ‘Dream a Garden’ and ‘Pillowland’ records, with continuation of the guitars and synths that formed the bedrocks of those records, albeit through disco licks and housey tones.

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Speaking about the album, Jam City said: “When I first started writing this record, in my head, I was 18, back in the Liquid & Envy in my hometown of Redhill on a Saturday Night. Fuck London, I’d only been a few times for school trips anyway. This was where it was at. Walking through the doors to Photek’s ‘Mine to Give’, it felt like you’d walked into Studio 54 or something. There’s a mural of the Manhattan skyline preposterously splashed over the bar, neon everywhere and the floors are sticky with cheap champagne. Shivering in the rain soaked car park, a group of girls from my school share a lighter with the local bikers in their leathers; Harley, Honda, Yamaha…”

The release notes state: “Standing for Electric Flight Music, Every Freak Moves, Endless Fantasy Mode, Everyone Feels Magnetic and so much more, EFM represents the cacophony of emotions felt within formative club experiences.”

Another definition is Earthly FM, nodding to the radio shows Jam City has broadcast on stations such as NTS.

Watch the video for ‘Times Square (feat. Aidan)’ and check out the album artwork and tracklist below. Pre-order the album here.

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Editor & Digital Director, follow him on Twitter

Tracklist: 1. Touch Me (ft. Aidan & Clara La San) 2. Times Square (ft. Aidan) 3. Do It (ft. Aidan) 4. Wild n Sweet (ft. Empress Of) 5. Reface (ft. Aidan) 6. LLTB (ft. Wet) 7. Tears at Midnight 8. Be Mine (ft. Aidan) 9. Redd St Turbulence 10. Magnetic