Lee Gamble ‘She’s Not’ (Hyperdub)
‘She’s Not’ is a beautiful and intriguing prelude to Lee Gamble’s forthcoming album ‘Models’. Layering interesting texture upon interesting textures - from softly jangling guitar chords to synthetic vocals built from neural networks - it builds up to form a track that’s foggy and plaintive but feels subtly monumental, inspiring the type of reflection and nostalgia that can transport you deep inside your head
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Polygonia ‘Otro Mundo’ (Bambe)
The title-track from Polygonia’s forthcoming EP on Bambounou’s Bambe label is a tantalising taste of what’s to come. ‘Otro Mundo’ sees the Munich-based producer experimenting with vocal harmonies, skittering percussion and bassweight, building a haunting atmosphere that still rattles your chest.
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CC:DISCO! ‘Chez Moi (Waiting For You) ft. Confidence Man (Club Mix)’ (Phantasy)
CC:DISCO! makes her solo bow in style with a euphoric debut single. It’s a luxurious sounding cut with gently soaring melodies, blissed-out pads and emotionally-stirring percussive flourishes. A magnificent vocal turn from Confidence Man’s Janet Planet adds to the out-of-this-world energy coursing through the track. Deployed at sunrise, this would be a Moment.
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Charli XCX ‘Speed Drive’ (Atlantic)
Barbie mania has had the world in a headlock this month, with Greta Gerwig’s live action film starring the famous plastic toy launching the brewing Mattel cinematic universe with a record-breaking lift-off, while the soundtrack has also broken a record UK singles chart record. The best thing about it is definitely this Charli XCX banager ‘Speed Drive’, which soundtracks a chase scene in the film, and is an appropriately dynamic, interpollating Toni Basil’s ‘81 bubblegum pop classic ‘Mickey’ to match the assignment of bringing an old favourite into the modern era.
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Special Request ‘Sliver’ (feat. Novelist) (Gudu Records)
A massive link-up with massive results. Special Request provides the punchy production with a rowdy bassline at the fore and grime waves perfectly teeing up Novelist to attack the beat. A sudden deceleration around the halfway mark and which then flies into an accelerated overload is a disconcerting creative choice that just about works given the size of the impact when Nov and the OG beat return.
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Laurel Halo & Coby Sey ‘Belleville’ (Awe)
The first track released from Laurel Halo’s upcoming album is an intimate and melancholic intro to ‘Atlas’. Recorded in one take, you can heard her fingers moving along the piano keys and her feet pressing the creeking sustain pedal amid the mournful melody. A brief crescendo fuelled by Coby Sey’s strings and vocals momentarily sparks, and then dies away, as Halo’s keys trail away.
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DBBD ‘Secrets’ (Cream Team)
Berlin-based DJ and producer DBBD has been making some serious waves in the electronic music scene as of late, particularly since their 2022 rave sweatbox anthem ‘Muschi Muschi’, the leading track on last year’s ‘SLUT BOPZ VOL 1’ EP with fellow rave princess Miss Bashful. Secrets begins with a creeping electronic bass which makes way for seductive female vocals, enticing listeners by saying “tell me all your secrets” as the low ends begin to thump harder and harder. It's a relatively stripped-back ghetto tech track compared to other parts of DBBD’s discography, but it’s still sure to get heads bobbing and asses shaking at any warehouse. The single comes as a prelude for an upcoming EP, and if this introductory track is anything to go by, dancers and ravers are in for a real treat.
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DJ Zinc ‘138 Trek’ (POLO LILLI 145 Edit) (Bingo Bass)
It’s common for dance classics to be remixed, edited and restarted by budding producers for their dub libraries, but it's not as often that these reworked versions get recognition from the original composers. When UK club culture figurehead DJ Zinc shared on Instagram that an updated version of his banger ‘138 Trek’ would be out “doing damage” on all platforms thanks to the creative mind of rapidly rising producer POLO LILLI, dancers and DJs alike could barely hold their excitement. This chopped-up, stompy version cranks up the BPM to 145 and begins in relatively the same way, until the chopped-up samba whistles come in with a punchy, four-to-the-floor beat. The tune then explodes into beautiful sonic conversation, with syncopated claps, hi-hats, snares and an extremely pleasing acid house-leaning bassline. A true ear pleaser that I expect will be thumped through club speakers for a while.
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Cortex ‘CLOUD’ (Self-released)
French jazz-funk ensemble Cortex, the creators of one of the most highly sought after vinyl records by audiophiles worldwide in the form of their 1975 studio album debut ‘Troupeau Bleu’, have released a few more sonic blessings this year - with three out of the four coming in July alone. The most recently dropped single ‘CLOUD’ is a groovy cut with swinging drums and pleasant horns. It's the sort of stripped-back, comfortingly repetitive, easy-listening jazz that works just as well for a reclusive evening in the bedroom as it does for having a boogie in the kitchen on a sunny afternoon.
A.G. Cook ‘Beautiful (2023 Edit)’ (PC Music)
Cast your memory back 10 years and you might remember A.G. Cook’s ever-modern sounding ‘Beautiful’, one of the first tracks to lay the foundation for PC Music as we now know it. A decade on and in the final year of PC Music’s output as the label ceases operation in 2023, the UK producer takes this track for another spin, pumping even more energy into its second iteration. Picking up the tempo and raising the pitch of that singalong hook, ‘Beautiful (2023 Edit)’ is peak-time club euphoria made flesh.
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Forest Swords ‘Butterfly Effect’ (Ninja Tune)
Forest Swords samples a previously unheard vocal from Neneh Cherry on his latest track ‘Butterfly Effect’, a dizzying industrial cut and his first release in some two years. The track, which began as a standalone instrumental, has since morphed into an off-kilter production conceptualised in the Liverpool factory where he recorded it. “Neneh’s unreleased archive vocal turned out to be a perfect fit, like they were meant to be together somehow,” he explains.
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Yussef Dayes ‘Marching Band ft. Masego’ (Brownswood Recordings)
The first track set to appear on Yussef Dayes’ forthcoming record ‘Black Classical Music’ in September is this luscious, subtle collaboration between himself and Masego, ‘Marching Band’. Masego provides ad-lib vocals and instrumentation to Yussef Dayes’ polished drumwork in what feels like an improvised jazz cut, but is, in fact, a carefully curated and multi-layered piece of work.
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Kwengface, Joy Orbison, Overmono ‘Freedom 2’ (Kwengface LTD)
Kwengface’s single ‘Freedom’ is a track that showed off the lyricist's identity, with his face revealed in the COLORS performance, but also his move into a club sound. This time around, Kwengface jumps into the deep end of dance music with Joy Orbison and Overmono joining in. Still incorporating the UKG vocal sample and Kwengface’s verses, the track has metamorphosed into something even better. Glitching the lyrics, adding some stinging high-notes and finally a rolling bassline, Joy Orbison and Overmono have created a Frankenstein-esque beauty.
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DJ Seinfeld, Confidence Man ‘Now U Do’ (Ninja Tune)
Need a quick pick-me-up or just something to play at pres to boost the energy before the night whisks you away? Well, look no further than DJ Seinfeld and Confidence Man’s ‘Now U Do’. This perfect combination of dance and pop will force you to sing along to its catchy chorus. Its cheeky flute riff and wobbly bass is simply irresistible.
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COUCOU CHLOE ‘DRIFT’ (Self-released)
You didn’t actually think COUCOU CHLOE was going to leave us hanging this year right? Well, she’s back with a fierce new single from her upcoming album. The unsettling sound of sirens rings through this track as COUCOU CHLOE whispers her verses in a stylized, unbothered attitude that will rub off on listeners as she repeats the lyric “I don’t really care”. The bouncing club sound, however, keeps things fun and adds to this sassy yet menacing vibe.
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Calvin Harris, Sam Smith ‘Desire’ (Columbia)
The latest in a string of classic clubland-inspired tracks from Calvin Harris, ‘Desire’ ft. Sam Smith evokes the heyday of Euro trance à la Fragma, Sash! and Eiffel 65 — by utilising haunting piano keys, high-tempo grinding pads and a cheeky flute to ensure no one would be confused as to where the producer has drawn his inspo. Also great to hear Sam Smith’s vocals on a dance track again!
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Dee Diggs ‘Toss It’ (Toucan Sounds)
Taking inspiration from the myriad sounds to be heard on modern NYC dancefloors — Dee Diggs masterfully pulls elements of jazz, soul and house music for her debut single. A luscious combination of low-end strings, hearty piano stabs and buoyant percussion underpins sultry vocals beckoning you to “strut across the room, hit it on a boom.” A sexy, catchy track destined for both the club and at-home make-out sessions.
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Minor Science ‘Dread The Evening’ (Balmat)
Created with a live setting in mind, Minor Science’s first single from his upcoming LP ‘Absent Friends Vol. III’ on Balmat puts focus on texture and form to create a track that is eerie and unsettling, while simultaneously comforting and warm in its simplicity. Deviating away from much of his more recent, club-focused work, the Berlin-based producer instead dives headlong into atmosphere; self-described as a “photographic negative” of the rowdy ‘064’ — if ‘Dread The Evening’ is anything to go by, the full-length LP will be easy to get ourselves lost in.
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