The best tracks of the year 2024 - January - Music - Mixmag

Erika de Casier ‘Lucky’ (4AD)

You can always rely on Erika de Casier to deliver the most beautifully smooth sounds that will change your whole life for those three short minutes, like a feel-good vitamin dose from the R&B gods. This taster of her forthcoming album 'Still' combines her silky vocals with a melodic piano and gentle breaks adding some angular thrust. The glistening video (titled “me walking on the beach”) is a perfect accompaniment.

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Vegyn ‘The Path Less Travelled’ (PLZ Make It Ruins)

This new single from Vegyn feels like the soundtrack to ascending to heaven. It’s emotional and uplifting in a slightly overwhelming way, where the euphoria is fizzing so strongly that it feels stratospheric.

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dogheadsurigeri ‘Fluid Matter’ (para//e/)

Polish artist dogheadsurigeri had already earned our fandom with her thrilling DJ sets and now her debut production has solidified that. ‘Fluid Matter’ is a stuttering, driving techno track, with a chopped vocal riding over a palpitating beat. We can’t waiut to hear more.

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Bicep ‘CHROMA 001 HELIUM’ (Ninja Tune)

This lead track from Bicep’s “ambitious” CHROMA project starts off on a grimey techno tip that sounds like something the Zenker Brothers might play, before a glistening synth melody is introduced over the mbass to bring some recognisable Bicep transcendence to the table. In their live shows, it will be a perfect bridge between the darker and more uplifting sides of their discography.

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UNIIQU3 & Black Caviar 'Price Going Up' (Self-released)

While many of us may have been slowing things down a little after some December indulgence, it looks like the Queen of Jersey Club didn’t get that memo. Starting off 2024 with all the full-throttle NRG that she has become renowned for, UNIIQU3’s collaborative single with NYC DJ Duo Black Caviar bounces through its two minutes and 15 seconds, weaving elements of hip hop and trap through a relentless combination of blaring sirens, pounding kicks and decadent percussion — all this combined with the producer’s own commanding vocals declaring “all my whole crew in the club” above the beat, it’s difficult to remember why we were taking a break from the dancefloor in the first place.

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Nia Archives ‘Crowded Roomz’ (HIJINXX)

Brimming emotionally-tinged freneticism, this personal single from Gen Z junglist Nia Archives is a masterclass in how to do poignant lyricism at 160 BPM. Inspired by the loneliness experienced on the tour circuit, ‘Crowded Roomz’ juxtaposes Archives’ soft vocals with its speedy tempo as she relays a desire for intimacy within chaos. But it’s in the mellow electronic guitar riff that dances throughout where the track sets itself apart, injecting some serious pop angst flavour into those razor sharp amen breaks.

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GRRL ‘Side By Side’ (MAGIC CITY)

Dishing out the kind of buoyant-but-warming electro that will have you yearning for the heat of the dancefloor, the first single from GRRL’s upcoming EP on Magic City is exactly what you need to escape the cold. While ‘Side By Side’’s bristling basslines and toasty analogue feel like an embrace, the track’s jittering bleeps and bloops and space-age synths will get your heart pumping — ready to shake off all cosiness by the time the accelerating thump from the low-end kicks reaches its peak. A space heater in track form.

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Kelela ‘Holier’ (JD.REID Remix feat. Shygirl) (Warp Records)

Slapping you in the face with what sounds like a drill beat built for the girls, this track has everything you could wish for to pull you out of that January blues. After Kelela’s album ‘Raven’ served up another example of just how phenomenal this woman is, she is now striding into 2024 with a team of reimagined tracks. JD. REID has found a way to make what was once an ambient track into a now vibrant kaleidoscope of beats followed up with the spitting of Shygirl’s twisted tongue. This remix is truly nothing like its predecessor.

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Justice, Tame Impala ‘One Night/All Night’ (Ed Banger Records / Because Music)

Going dry this January? Well, here’s an alternative, as this track will get you feeling drunk without the liver problem. Conjuring up a taste of both that driving Justice sound paired with Kevin Parker’s psychedelic flow, this track is like a beautiful symphony. Justice have announced their return this year with the track being part of their hard launch. With this hybrid of disco meeting techno, it is as if dance atoms have collided in an explosion of a track you’ll be sticking on repeat.

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Joy Orbison ‘flight fm’ (Hinge Finger / XL Recordings)

Joy O has crafted possibly an anthem of the year and we’re only one month in. In fact, there aren’t that many tracks that have ever hit so hard. Flirting with the crowd on an ever-growing beat with twirling fx, the drop is mighty when it comes. That rupture of bass is so powerful you could be convinced your mind has literally blown.

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J Wax 'Nasty' (Headroom Records)

J Wax must have spent Christmas in the kitchen because this track is cooked. The Edinburgh-based producer and DJ’s blend of techno and breakbeat with eclectic influences has made him a name to watch, developing his sound since arriving on the scene with his corrosive EP ‘Port to Port’ in 2019. ‘Nasty’ shows where his sound is at currently, delivering an infectious hopping hook over heavy breakbeat, with a kicking rhythm that’ll make you bop your head, offering a fresh take on a classic club sound.

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Oppidan 'Mr. Sandman' (Promised Land Recordings Limited)

Delivering a dreamy psychedelic flip of Mr Sandman, Oppidan cast a hypnotic spell on me with this tune. An audible sandpit to toy with, Oppidan has crafted a clean, playful beat, chopping up a retro classic with house percussion and UK garage beat. At the end of Oppidan’s set at Bristol’s Love Saves the Day last summer, the flip featured alongside ‘Renegade Master’ and ‘See Me’ – a silly set that had me and the rest of the crowd giggling and twirling our hair. After fans begged for a release of ‘Mr.Sandman’, Oppidan decided to bless us with my track of the summer, on a random day in January.

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Nu, Jo.Ke ‘Who Loved The Sun' (Danny Faber Club Edit) (Bar 25 Music)

Maybe I’m chasing the high of summer but this Danny Faber is exactly the audio sunshine needed for a grey January day. Combining the nostalgic deep house sound of the original track with Danny Faber’s minimal techno edit has transported me to a beach club and I’m sipping metaphorical margaritas. The career-defining track landed in the hands of Danny Faber, who this year breathed a fast, fresh beat into the tune over 10 years after it was first released. Guaranteed to put you in a euphoric trance.

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Batu ‘Other Means’ (A Long Strange Dream)

Moody, textured, and jittery: Batu’s productions are always a force to be reckoned with. Returning to his second record label A Long Strange Dream which was launched last year as an outlet for his own productions with “minimal fuss”, Batu locks back in with ‘Other Means’, a psychedelic journey through no-frills club soundscapes. Glitchy UK techno meets Bristol bass on this four-minute stormer.

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Heavee ‘Sumthin’ Different’ (Hyperdub)

Chicago’s Heavee marries footwork, juke and bass on ‘Sumthin’ Different’, the first track from his forthcoming album ‘Unleash’ on Hyperdub - and the first mark of the London label’s 20th anniversary celebrations. This one comes paired with an online, choose your own adventure-style video game telling the story of “a hero on a search for freedom, enlightenment and joy”, typical of the experimental haven Hyperdub has become known for. ‘Sumthin’ Different’ is an exciting taste of what’s to come.

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John Glacier ‘Money Shows (ft. Eartheater)’ (Young)

Following the announcement of her next EP ‘Like A Ribbon’ on Young, John Glacier has returned with a new track and teamed up with US multihyphenate Eartheater and production mastermind Kwes Darko in the process. ‘Money Shows’ is a punky first glimpse of her next record; intimate, gritty, and clear-sighted, with a running theme of identity and “threads that never quite meet”. The track comes alongside a self-directed music video with a debut appearance from the vocalist herself.

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