Slikback x Skrillex ‘Kixa’ (Self-released)
In many ways the meeting of the first name in US dubstep and the Kenyan producer responsible for heralding a new era of Tempa Records, feels like a symbolic moment — but did their collaborative single, ‘Kixa’, also have to be such a downright banger? Keening bass crashes into haunting synths, before a deliciously frenzied breakdown of chimes, bells and whistles. The somewhat hopeful gear shift at the outro though really makes ‘Kixa’, a wild juxtaposition with the bashing and crashing that has come before.
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DJ Babatr ‘Now Shout’ (HAKUNA KULALA)
Caracas raptor house pioneer DJ Babatr has hand selected 10-tracks from his personal archive for his new record ’Root Echoes’ — many of which come from a “significant” era in underground music for himself and his home city between the years 2003 and 2007. While we will have to wait to catch the full record, ‘Now Shout’ is a good teaser for what is about to come — presenting a rowdy fusion of early '00s Eurodance inspired synths and frenzied percussion.
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Authentically Plastic 'Shivers' (HAKUNA KULALA)
The first single from ‘ROCOCO RUINE’, ‘Authentically Plastic’’s forthcoming second album, ‘Shivers’ is a hypnotic, frenzied journey through delicate-yet-piercing drums, billowing bass and trickling hats. Unnerving synths dance above the rhythm becoming increasingly intense until the track’s finish. If creating a powerful sense of dread was the mission, then it is undeniably accomplished.
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DJ LIYASHO, TurnUpKiid & Tyler ICU ‘ISBHAXO’ (feat. Nandipha808) (Topwork Recordz)
Amapiano keeps evolving in the years since it first emerged, and in 2025, there’s stripped-back takes on the sound that put all the focus on those deep rolling log drums at the underbelly of the music itself. You’ll hear exactly that in this new single from South African amapiano trailblazer Tyler ICU featuring Nandipha808 and young newcomers DJ LIYASHO and TurnUpKiid, with snarling basslines and intense percussion that rattle right through your body.
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Ela Minus ‘QQQQ’ (Nick León Extended Club Mix) (Domino)
A standout cut from her recently released album ‘DÍA’, Colombia’s Ela Minus takes ‘QQQQ’ for a respin, inviting Nick León to bring his animated club vision to the track. On his ‘Extended Club Mix’ rework, he infuses the melodic rhythms of ‘QQQQ’ with thumping kick drums and pads primed for the dancefloor.
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Cameo Blush ‘Essa’ (Future Classic)
From his latest EP ‘Grace In Motion’, Cameo Blush’s new track ‘Essa’ utilities AI in a “positive” way. While the music itself is produced entirely by the London producer, he explains via Metal Magazine that he wanted to use artificial intelligence to “make creative decisions” that he wouldn’t normally choose, such as naming tracks or selecting “visual stimulus”. Sonically, ‘Essa’ is a bouncy bass number, informed by its poppy, pitched-up vocal lines.
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Mochakk, Kwengface ‘Legumes’ (Disorder)
In an unexpected link-up, Mochakk has released a track with UK drill artist Kwengface. It has become a bit of a trend to see dance music DJs work with UK rappers in the past year or two, yet for this release from the Mixmag August cover star Mochakk sticks to his guns by blending Kwengface’s bars with a driving tech-house beat of hi-hats and bells.
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Sammy Virji x Champion x IRAH ‘Dis Badman’ (Capitol Records)
Sammy Virji and Interplanetary Criminal’s ‘Damager’ has become one of the most replayed tracks of the summer, and now Virji returns with another scorcher. Uniting two of the UK’s heavyweight MCs together on a track that is laced with some of the deepest bass your ears will have ever witnessed, ‘Dis Badman’ is about to get dropped throughout the turn into autumn clubbing season.
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KI/KI, Marlon Hoffstadt ‘Losing Control’ (Capitol Records)
Finally, it’s happened. DJ Daddy Trance AKA Marlon Hoffstadt and trance motther KI/KI have collaborated on their first-ever track together. The pair teased the release during their recent debut b2b DJ set together, and it now lands in a storm of raw power, glitchy stabs and passionate vocals. Hopefully the first of many.
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Amazinggaijin ‘Tampanesis’ (All Centre)
‘Tampanesis’ from Amazinggaijin’s return to All Centre opens with a fake out of biting hi-hats and kicks that tease an urgent, functional club track. All of the sudden these dissolve, and 10 minutes of hypnotic, pulsating techno that’s endlessly gripping begins to unfold. Deep, resonant textures steadily expand and gain intensity as off-kilter sounds judder and gurgle below, while a warped vocal further pulls you into its clutches, repeating over and over like some ceremonial cult initiation.
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Body Clinic 'E-Talking' (Suckerpunch)
Belfast’s Body Clinic serves up dancefloor dynamite with this eccy-soaked roller, plundering classic Soulwax for the vocal and taking that recognisable clubland staple to new, intoxicating territory. There’s sweltering synth lines, high-pitched tones that melt seductively into reverb and an unfaltering percussive line that will unite your whole body in rhythmic jerking.
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Sofia Kourtesis ‘Sisters’ (Ninja Tune)
Sofia Kourtesis’s latest Ninja Tune EP ‘Volver’ pays tribute to “amazing trans women that [she] was lucky to meet through the course of the last few years”. The standout cut ‘Sisters’ is a bright, effervescent expression of love and solidarity, with a beat that bubbles with joy beneath delectable vocals that affirm “I'm here by your side.”
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