June: 6 hard dance releases you need to hear this month

Jekyll 'Bomb Droppin’' (Broken Records UK)

Every now and then, something lands in our Dropbox that grabs our attention with how utterly insane it sounds. This is one of those moments: this track is bonkers. In terms of elements there’s not much to it beyond a chunky off-beat hardcore bassline, vocal loop and a chopped-up siren riff, but sometimes it’s the simple things in life that are best. This is the sort of hardcore that some will deem too silly for their beige behaviour to understand, but drop it on a room of ravers and watch the madness unfold.

10/10

Brennan Heart & Jonathan Mendelsohn 'Be Here Now' (We R)

Brennan Heart has always had an ear for writing incredible original hardstyle anthems, and this track from his album ‘I Am Hardstyle’ has everything you look for when listening to the tough stuff. The vocal talents of Mr Mendelsohn are utterly brilliant, with soft tones scattered across a beautifully produced piano breakdown: it’ll have you singing along at the top of your lungs with a smile on your face. Pitched kicks and a huge euphoric riff make this a great overall package.

8/10

Tom Parr 'Miss You Forever' (Sin Records)

Tom has had a break from the hard stuff of late, but returns now with a new single on his own imprint – and it’s business as usual. ‘Miss You Forever’ steals its vocal from elsewhere but, overlooking that minor point, the breakdown is sheer brilliance with saxophones and a simple yet elegant chord progression plucking away underneath. It’s all so lovely until the drop, which flips things on its head with a muffled hoover and rolling bass smash-out.

8/10

Craig Lee 'Mufasa' (Solid State Digital)

Craig Lee is one of those artists that’s been bubbling along almost under the radar for some time, but he always delivers when it comes to his sets and productions –and his SSD debut is a big, chunky hard houser with stacks of energy. ‘Mufasa’ couples production quality and energy with suspense and plenty of stomp-factor. A teasing riff echoes off throughout the break, with vocal chops and percussion building to the all-important kick-in. It’s perfect for those dark, dingy dancefloors at 3am.

8/10

Griffiths & Dodd vs Ben Kaye 'Val1um' (Blessed Digital)

New breed-meets-established in this epic battle of studio warfare, and the result is something really exciting. The first bass drop is almost psy-trance with its amazing rolling bass and production clarity, while the breakdown is a huge fusion of vocals and strings that creates a constant element of progression before the track slams in with a full-on hard trance edge. Dancefloors will love this track, wherever you play it.

9/10

Starman presents Italo Bounce 'I Like Your Body' (Cheeky Tracks)

Kenny Hayes might be Clubland’s in-house producer, but outside of his day job he also writes music for a huge number of labels under various different aliases. He dons his feel-great, piano-led Starman style for new release ‘I Like Your Body’, which is a big-party pumper tailor-made for sunny days with hardcore elements and classic vocals dropping into the mix. It’s no-nonsense and smile-inducing bounce music, in the most inoffensive and positive way possible.

8/10