From contemporary disco bangers to atmospheric synthpop from dance music icons, these are the tracks you need to know about. Listen below.
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Jessie Ware – Pearls
Following last year’s Free Yourself, Pearls is the latest single from Ware and comes off the back of the announcement of her anticipated new album, That! Feels Good!. Pearls expands on the effervescent disco sound Ware found on What’s Your Pleasure?. It doesn’t just meet expectations, it totally blows them out the water. Ware has never sounded more rooted in the glamorous and amorous euphoria of classic dance music, leaving us more hyped than ever for whatever comes next.
SHERELLE – GETOUTOFMYHEAD
SHERELLE is as much a scholar as she is a musician, creating music with a reverence for the history of the jungle, bass, and breaks lineage which she locates herself in while making bold choices that push these styles forward for a new generation of listeners. On the inaugural fabric Originals release, this skill is on full display. GETOUTOFMYHEAD mixes freely between hardcore, bass, and ethereal, euphoric house, and it’s SHERELLE’s dexterity with these styles that shows she hasn’t just studied them; she’s mastered them.
Two Shell – love him
The mysterious and unidentified duo tearing up the UK underground club scene surprised dropped a whole EP, lil spirits. Single love him is a glossy, bouncy affair, applying Two Shell’s internet approach to dance music to a snappy bounce groove. It’s far lighter than their recent work on the Icons EP, and perhaps hints at the direction we may see the duo take over the course of the year.
Orbital – Are You Alive?
The latest single from Orbital’s upcoming new album is a lot mellower than the seething Dirty Rat, a gentle synthpop lullaby sung by Penelope Isles. Simmering percussion bubbles over waves of gentle synths and waves of ambience, which gives the whole thing an ethereal, foggy glow. It’s a touch familiar, and perhaps a touch mainstream for Orbital, but there’s no denying the duo’s ability to create gorgeously layered and emotive dance music.
