June: 6 bass & club tunes you need to hear this month

Nkisi 'Kill' (MW)

Although ‘Kill’ is Nkisi’s official debut release, the Belgian-Congolese producer is already incredibly well-known and well-accomplished in club scenes across the world. She’s been running London’s cult club night Endless for a few years now, has put out tracks with the NON collective and relentlessly tears up every deck she touches. The title track here sets the mood from the outset as drums clatter, kicks pound and synths glisten around you – there’s a lot going on, but somehow it’s all absolutely made to fit together. ‘Can You See Me’, on the other hand, is more downtempo compared to a typical Nkisi track, hypnotically rolling and breaking like crests of waves, allowing the listener time to get their bearings before the high-voltage knockout that is ‘MWANA’. Many producers make music in the same way that they DJ: by putting two (or more) unlikely elements together for a pleasingly dissonant blend. Nkisi, both in her sets and on ‘Kill’, manages to place things together in a way that’s incredibly fluid; it feels natural, but who would have ever thought to fade a bright riff in and out over 148bpm techno? These are the ones you’ll be grateful to hear when you’re still dancing the next morning.

9/10