New York’s TYGAPAW has become synonymous with stirring, cutting-edge club music — the type that can deliver on all-out raucous danceability without compromising on its political heart. So it’s no surprise that the fabric Originals-released ‘love has never been a popular movement’ feels like such a swan song to what dancefloors should feel like in 2023, a perfect marriage of steely percussion, bewildering groove and references that will punch you in the gut. The artist’s growing self-assurance and virtuosity can be felt as the record progresses, compounding influences from the East Coast’s LGBTQIA+ club scene, hard-as-nails techno and the exuberant sounds of their home-country, Jamaica. Particular highlights include George Riley collab ‘GLAMOUR RIDDIM’ dripping with luxurious R&B and an eyes-to-the-ceiling disco-esque string, the boisterous hats of ‘MI NUH BEG FREN’ and the scattered kicks and bouncing bass heard in ‘DO ME DEMO MODE’.

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With a SBTRKT release, there are always three things that will be certain: There will be out-of-this-world synths that will enchant and alarm in equal measure, there will be a slew of collaborations with some of the hottest acts in dance music and beyond (George Riley, Sampha, D Double E and Toro y Moi in this case), and, finally, there will be a complete reimagining of UK pop/electronic crossover. Spread across 22 tracks, ‘The Rat Road’ is unique in how much more personal it feels in comparison to his previous albums — the recently “unmasked” producer wears his influences on his sleeves, bringing dubstep, breaks and old skool rave to the forefront. ‘DEMONS’ for example melds together rustling amen breaks, low-end dub and those trademark distant vocals and bleeps and bloops heard from 2011-era indie-electronica. While the glistening ‘LFO’ pairs up 80s synth stabs, eerie basslines and cheeky 90s references with George Riley’s incandescent vocals.

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Following the hype around their recent garage-influenced single ‘Wait For It’, salute’s next EP ‘Shield’ brings together four anticipated tracks that have long been teased at festivals and clubs on the producer’s recent UK, EU, and US tours. ‘Peach’ is a big hitter, featuring UKG powerhouse Sammy Virji, while ‘Feels Like My Hands Are On Fire’ marks new territory as the first cut to feature salute’s own vocals.

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A HudMo & Nikki Nair link-up is the answer to all of your summer tune needs, isn’t it? Combining the usual feel-good essence of HudMo’s sound with some unpredictable uptempo production from Nikki Nair, this Glasgow-meets-Atlanta crossover makes for some typically off-kilter music. The three-tracker features the addictive, sticks-in-your-head track ‘Set The Roof’ featuring US singer-songwriter Tayla Parx, whose vocals have been pitched up to give that classic chipmunk effect.

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Sea Lion Gang’s Blank Patrick (FKA TryTry) debuts on SLG International with the two-tracker ‘Bluebell / Serif Soaked’, pulling inspiration from 2010s house mainstays Jacques Greene and Gold Panda. On ‘Bluebell’, the producer moves through bubbling synths and bouncy vocal chops, while on the flip, ‘Serif Soaked’ stretches its sonic range with a more contemporary take on house production.

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Fusing a spectrum of genres on top of their distinctive styles, KAYTRANADA and Aminé have produced an immaculate album, calling in the big guns of Pharrell and Snoop Dogg, among other features, to add the cherry on top. It’s a shimmering example of what great minds can create together, delivering catchy rhythms and dancefloor hits in spades.

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Described by LCY as a “songbook”, ‘He Hymns’ is an EP which taps into the therapy of dance. Exploring a deeply personal unpacking of gender, sexuality and their own musical journey, there is plenty behind the curtain of this bass-heavy five-track release. The EP is split into two halves with a 30-second interlude titled ‘He Hymns’ at the centre, which builds up to the choppy ‘Bad Blood’. This track feels as if LCY is flossing between your ears and is bound to sound even wilder on a fat soundsystem. In fact, the whole EP was born for a dark and dingy club - in the best way.

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A whirlwind, to say the least, this new EP from the titan that is Blawan will blow your mind. Organised chaos comes in the form of ‘Toast’, which throws in layers of abstract textures and distortion. But this is just the beginning: the EP swiftly moves into more ordered arrangements that still the complexity of the lead track, including two features from singer-songwriter Monstera Black that see Blawan take a step beyond his usual club sound.

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As a DJ, Japanese techno master Wata Igarashi crafts sets that are totally transfixing: hard and pounding but with a hypnotic quality that feels almost soothing as it locks you into movement. His debut album on Kompakt strips back the weight and leans into the latter qualities, forging atmospheric soundscapes that glisten and swell through shimmering electronica, jazzy improvised melodies, and beats that suck you in like quicksand with their measured-yet-gripping blend of rhythm and sound.

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After a slow climb to prominence on the back of gigging, word of mouth and cult releases on Dean Blunt’s World Music label, London trio bar italia - comprising Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton - debuting on Matador Records feels like a breakthrough moment. Their sound still has a detached vibe that reflects their enigmatic profile, but there’s thoughtful songwriting fuelling the jangles, scuzz and vocals of varying registers between disinterest and affected.

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They’ve been threatening it for a while now, but it feels like the crossover moment for Overmono is now upon us. The days of the brothers’ caustic acid experiments as TR \\ ER are long gone, but there’s still a pleasing intricacy to the production of their debut album of dancefloor adjacent anthems as Overmono. Samples of alt-popstars from Tirzah to Erika de Casier feel fitting to their MO of accessibility that steers clear of being formulaic. A summer of festival slots and autumn of arena shows should take them to the next level.

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Alison Goldfrapp sounds charged up on her debut solo album ‘The Love Invention’. The dancefloor-focused record is upbeat and energised, playing with styles such as Italo disco, Balearic house and Eurodance with lyrical content that spans satirical swipes at the wellness industry to unshackled erotica. Bonus remixes from Claptone, Special Request, niina and Röyksopp are a welcome addition to maximise the club feels.

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Kyiv-based artist Hanna Svirska delves into ancient Ukrainian folklore on this mystical sounding EP on the essential Standard Deviation imprint. Exploring a narrative of spirituality, divine beings, doubters, time travel and the power of nature, it conjures haunting soundscapes built from choral vocals, swirling ambience and the soft but urgent melodies. A remix from Aho Ssan serves up the most imposing moment, with layer upon layer of synth tones and crunch building an almighty wall of sound.

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Jossy Mitsu affirms she’s a producer to be reckoned with. Her second EP, the sequel to 2021’s ‘Planet J’ on Astral Black, crafts another vivid world of sound. She collapses styles spanning jungle to techno to UKG into tight productions geared towards dancefloor tension, submerging the experiments in wide-angled bass.

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