Words can’t describe how good it felt to see a brand new Rustie track surface unexpectedly on streaming platforms. His music has always carried a visceral sensation that’s better felt than explained, but it feels really fucking good basically, like surfing a maximalist club music wave through the centre of the sun while synthesized adrenaline is fizzing through your veins. Or something like that. ‘Black Ice Mudra’ became his first release of new music in nearly a decade when it dropped at the start of the month, bringing all those usual feelings in a euphoric shot to kickstart summer.

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When Batu founded his second label A Long Strange Dream last year, he announced it would be a “no-fuss” home to experiment with releasing music in a “variety of styles”. ‘Zeal’ is a proper ripper, with a kind of sleazy tech-house feel to the storming bassline which cuts through the bulk of the track, warping into a more electro scuzz direction at the midway point with breathy vocals hiking up the sweltering atmosphere.

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Robert Dietz gets in his feelings on the title-track of his latest Nous'klaer Audio EP, changing up his style to push upwards into emotional prog house territory, fuelled by a throbbing synths and a subtly euphoric melody that floats like a cloud in the background,

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Kiss Nuka drops an agitated and ominous bass-loaded banger on Jamz Supernova’s Future Bounce imprint. Inspired by the astrological phenomenon of a blood moon, a time feared to bring out trauma and insidiousness, the Indian artist artfully leans into this theme with its dark and propulsive feel.

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Yetsuby keeps her prolific streak rolling with a new mini-album of sublime electronic sounds inspired by a celestial theme. Our pick of the bunch is ‘Poly Juice’, which sparkles with a shimmering, blissful energy, instilled by flickering synths, which conjures the feeling of floating through the stars.

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It’s been a minute since we were blessed with new music from Peach Discs boss Shanti Celeste, so it’s with great delight that ‘SLB’ is such a no-holds-barred, blissed-out club banger. Thumping kicks and scattered hats dance above an indulgent house rhythm, with a spine-tingling array of soothing synths kicking in towards the midway point, freely melding into a husky, fragmented vocal sample. Primed and ready for flapping your wrists above your mates heads at stupid o’clock, lost in the dance — we love.

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It was with great delight that mere days after Charli xcx released her highly-anticipated, club-angled album ‘Brat’, that an extended edition was already flooding streaming services — unseriously titled ‘Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not’. Despite ‘Spring Breakers’ being the inclusion fans were jumping at the bit for, after Charli had debuted it during her NYC Boiler Room, The Dare-produced ‘Guess’ caught our attention the most. Devilishly sexy lyrics that sees the popstar beckon on an admirer are paired with a searing electroclash-meets-fidget house bassline, having us winking seductively one minute and spraying gun fingers akimbo the next. Extra points for the deranged genius of the Daft Punk ‘Technologic’-inspired flow on the track’s chorus that has Charli murmur enticingly: “Try it, bite it, lick it, spit it”.

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LSDXOXO may have made his name in creating sultry techno anthems designed to elicit maximum sweat on basement dancefloors, but he is undeniably inspired by the pop punk and rock of his youth ( see the ‘Built This Way’-sampling ‘DRaIN’ from 2022). The first single from his forthcoming album ‘DOGMA’ is no different, beginning with an Avril Lavigne-esque guitar strum paired with ever-so-emo vocals as he declares himself “ready for lovin’” — though as the track’s rapturous dancehall-inspired kick drum reveals itself at around the minute mark, it begins to combine lovers’ angst with clubland eroticism, creating a track that is as synonymous with heartbreak as it is seduction.

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Where are you from? Chances are it’s name dropped by Jamakabi, who reels off an impressive list of nationalities in the first two verses, all while maintaining an impeccable flow. With new school star Bakey linking up with old school icon Champion, the beat draws from funky and garage as well a hint of bassline, with a high-energy bop that’s already racked up plenty of streams. A genre-crossing link-up, this one pays homage to late 2000s sounds, but with clean and hard hitting modern productions. A must have for the USB.

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Another three man link-up, this one features UK stalwarts Breaka and DJ Polo coming together for some dancehall and amapiano-infused fun, described as a “summer anthem”. The track provides the perfect canvas for Swordman Kitala’s rhythmical vocals, which are choppy and catchy, adding their own rhythm to the overarching groove. Released on Parisian label Grid, this one has already received support from a number of big names in the scene, including Ahadadream, Batu and Ben UFO.

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The latest release from Emil James is an ode to everyday life, describing the cyclical nature of inner city existence and youth. Channelling indie and hip hop in equal measure, the single features dreamy guitar licks on top of punchy drums and Emil’s Mike Skinner-esque tales of London life, marking a return to his signature sound following his dancefloor focused release ‘Love is Good’. With a clean and high quality video set in a post-apocalyptic, magic-realism tinged pub, the track paints a picture of the beauty within the mundane. One for fans of Slowthai, Mike Skinner or Gorillaz.

It will always feel painful that we lost the great artist and revolutionary pop figure SOPHIE before her time. Prior to her passing, we had heard snippets of an unreleased track in her live performances on top of a leak back in 2019, and now ‘Reason Why’ has got an official release. Featuring singer Kim Petras and R&B duo BC Kingdom, the track encompasses an era of SOPHIE and will feature on the posthumous project out later this year. Listening to the track triggers a flicker between the happiness towards its pop-centric feel juxtaposes with the sadness surrounding its release. Encapsulating a period where SOPHIE’s success was only getting bigger, this track represents her glory days and showcases her influential talent as one to remember forever.

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Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Headie One, Skrillex, AJ Tracey and BEAM have teamed up on a track. A link-up that few saw coming, ‘Make a W’ blurs Skrillex’s taste for dubstep with a standard UK drill motif alongside a dancehall beat that has spawned from BEAM’s signature style. Together, this track keeps you on your toes - literally and figuratively - as it evolves after each bar, highlighting and showcasing their individual styles as well as how the grouping surprisingly works so well. A truly innovative mix of genres.

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Cench has become the king of UK rap, but here we hear his distinctive flow alongside the Nigerian Afrobeat and amapiano trademark of Asake. This fusion flows in harmony as Asake’s relaxed approach eases us into Central Cee’s high-energy verse that stabs through the rising log drum beat. After reaching well over one million views on YouTube in one day, we’re sure ‘Wave’ will be staying in heavy rotation.

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On his CloudCore return, FLiiK delivers ‘Older’, a distorted, futuristic breakbeat number fusing metallic vocals with an electro-tinged bassline. Typical of the label’s recent releases, ‘Older’ shapeshifts from a transcendent vocal cut into hardy club rhythms across a four-minute play time.

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In a swift follow-up to her recent EP ‘Like A Ribbon’, which received plenty of acclaim on release in February, John Glacier lands back on Young with another five-tracker featuring the flawless ‘Cows Come Home’, the EP’s lead track where signature downtempo vocals meet destructive grime-like beats.

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New York’s No Sir adds a dark and sharp-edged bass track to the latest compilation from Early Reflex, celebrating the label’s fourth anniversary alongside club scene heavyweights. Trembling basslines melt into swirling synths on this deconstructed bass weapon.

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