X CLUB. drop atmospheric new single and announce forthcoming EP

Australian duo X CLUB. have teamed up with Pretty Girl for their latest single, 'Only If U', which dropped in accordance with the announcement of their forthcoming EP in the near future.

'Only If U' is accompanied by an emotionally-charged video capturing the very essence of the single, which sonically steps into a more experimental direction of the pair's rave-ready techno sound. It overlays dynamic and fulfilling breaks to pull the listener outwardly, before trance-like synths and heavy basslines bring you back to earth.

You can check out the deeply thought-out storylike video below, directed by the pair's longtime friend Brodie Charters:

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“We wanted to experiment with making a slower, more atmospheric broken beat techno track,” says Ben of X CLUB., “and after playing around with a Ray J acapella sample, we figured we’d ditch that and focus on an original vocal reaching out to Pretty Girl. She came back to us super quickly with some really cool short vocal phrases that we manipulated into something that felt unique to the project."

As noted, with the drop of the single also comes the announcement of the duo's forthcoming EP, set for release on Steel City Dance Disks. It'll see the duo carve a new sonic direction as they experiment with new sounds as per 'Only If U', yet their signature rave-ready, hard hitting sound will remain a constant.

“We wanted to lead with Only If U for the EP as it's kind of a step into unique territory sonically for us," explains Jesse of the duo. "Working with a vocalist on an original piece was new to us and allowed us to explore a unique blend between the hard hitting raw percussive sound on the rest of the EP and the slower atmospheric influence that someone like Pretty Girl brings to a record."

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The full tracklist, release date and pre-order for the EP is still yet to drop, although has been dubbed as being revealed 'soon'.

In the meantime, you can check out the video for X CLUB.'s 'Only If U' featuring Pretty Girl above and order it here, and keep up to date with the pair here for future announcements about the EP.

Niamh Ingram is Mixmag's Weekend Editor, follow her on Twitter