This week in dance music: We trekked to the Arizona desert for the return of FORM Arcosanti, spoke with SOPHIE’s collaborators about assembling the late artist’s posthumous album, and talked to LP Giobbi for Billboard‘s just out producers issue. Meanwhile Odetari made his debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; Insomniac Music Group launched Insomniac Publishing; Pharrell spoke about working with Daft Punk during his Hot Ones episode; Rüfüs du Sol released their fourth studio album, Inhale/Exhale (more on that next week); and Charli XCX released the remixed version of Brat, called Brat & It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat.
And of course, these are the best new dance tracks of the week.
Anti Up, What Is Life
Brit producers Chris Lake and Chris Lorenzo have been collaborating as Anti Up since 2018, and talks of a debut album have seemingly gone on for nearly as long. After a few false starts and a major headlining slot at this year’s Coachella, it’s finally here. What Is Life is as in-your-face as its title is existential, loaded with whomping basslines, heaving tech house and old-school flourishes made for dark rooms — a nod to the Chrises’ U.K.-dance roots. Some of the tracks here are singles Anti Up have dropped over the years, such as the revved-up “Shake” and groovy “Chromatic,” but there’s plenty of new material, too. Check out “Shambles,” a cut of cavernous techno with swelling synths, wailing sirens, and raw vocals channeling Underworld’s Karl Hyde. Altogether, it’s high-energy electronics and massive punk energy that’ll make you eager to f–k up a dance floor. — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Flying Lotus, “Ingo Swann”
Steven Ellison has been working on a couple of outside projects in recent years, scoring the Netflix anime series Yasuke and writing/directing V/H/S/99 and Ash. But it seems the producer is circling back to his own work as Flying Lotus. After popping up in August with “Garmonbozia,” his first new material in two years, Ellison is back again with “Ingo Swann,” named after the late American psychic. “Ingo Swann” is full-on four-on-the-floor, a gleaming cut bristling with brisk percussion and bubbling lofi synths. It seems like there’s still more yet to come: In a recent interview with Hypebeast, he shared he’s working on a new album that’s “98% done.” — K.R.
Dom Dolla & Tove Lo, “Cave”
Aussie hotshot Dom Dolla goes drum ‘n’ bass on his latest single and collaboration with Swedish alt-pop artist Tove Lo, “Cave.” The genre is new to their pair’s catalog, but it looks good on them. “Cave” is sultry, self-aware, and a little dangerous, as Lo narrates a tale where the lustful grip of temptation triumphs over self-preservation: “I know all your tricks and you lick your lips, because you know I’m gonna cave.” It’s a killer hook that can shake up the club and the radio.
“I used to play a lot of shows in New Zealand in the early days of my career,” Dom Dolla says. “Drum and Bass has always had a timeless place in the scene there and it rubbed off on me as a youngster. I took the influence with me everywhere. After playing an evening of house/techno at clubs in the U.S., I used to love closing the night out with a DnB record or two. Even if it was simply as an energetic escalation and the audience I was playing it to didn’t understand it at the time. Fast forward to 2024, the genre has exploded, and it’s understood by all. I love that there are no rules anymore.”
“He played me a barebones version of the track, pretty much just the main synth in the verses and some of the chorus drums,” adds Lo. “We started riffing on melodies and quickly had it down. I took the track home with me and worked on the lyrics. I felt like the chords and the beat had this haunted but sexy energy about it. It was giving the hot toxic ex you’re not over. So, I decided to tell that story.” — K.R.
Maddy O’Neal, Vital Signs
Bass producer Maddy O’Neal is out with her third album, Vital Signs, with its 10 dually hard-hitting and etheric tracks emphasizing why she’s becoming an increasingly well known name in the genre. But of course success rarely, if ever, comes overnight, with the Colorado-based producer having hustled for over a decade to get here. Vital Signs thus aptly started coming together at the beginning of the year, when O’Neal had some time off to consider her original influences and how to fuse them with the skills she’s developed while making music for the last 12 years. “I brought it back to the heavy hip hop/soulful sampling influences I leaned into at the start,” she writes, “while really ramping it up with big sound design and taking it up a notch in terms of production. Those effective decisions are heard throughout the album, which fans can also hear live as O’Neal tours through the U.S. through the end of the year. — KATIE BAIN
Camelphat, “Deep Inside”
Coming in the wake of their 2023 album Spiritual Milk, British duo Camelphat release the simply titled B-Sides EP, six tracks that capture the soaring, prismatic big room house and melodic techno sounds the pair have become beloved for since their emergence. “Deep Inside” captures this sound most effectively, with waves of synth and a long build giving way to a dexterous, hard-hitting release. The project is out on the pair’s own When Stars Align imprint. — K.B.
Amelie Lens, “Falling for You”
If you’ve been Shazaming Amelie Lens’ set-closing tracks lately to no avail, you’re in luck. On the heels of two major open-to-close shows in New York City and Los Angeles, the Belgian producer has released her latest and much-anticipated single, “Falling for You.” The track falls somewhere between hard techno and trance, elevating heart rates with its driving beat and sharp percussion. Lens balances that sharpness with softness, overlaying it with soaring synths and a sugar-coated vocal expressing even more saccharine sentiment: “And I, never felt so loved, I am falling for you/ And I, and my body awakes, I am returning to you.” With a closer like that, it’s hard to not go home happy. — K.R.
