By Zayrha Arambula
The last few weeks have been special and memorable for several reasons. And all those reasons include new music from some of the biggest names in the EDM industry.
I’ll start off withDJ Snake’s brilliant new album, “Carte Blanche.” It’s pretty special considering his last (and first) album was released almost three years ago. According to Snake, the new album has already reached over one BILLION streams on Spotify and it’s only been out less than two weeks. In 17 songs, the French producer manages to defy all expectations and show the rest of the world how experimental and genreless a single album can be. His collaborations are across the spectrum, ranging from reggaeton artistJ BalvintoZomboy toTchamiandMalaa toSean Paul. And the diverse collabs don’t stop there. Snake skillfully explores different styles in tone, sound, and production. For example, the first two songs on the album, Butterfly Effect and Quiet Storm (with Zomboy) are already so different from each other. I attended Hard Summer this weekend and I heard Snake’s dubstep collab with Epticat almost every set. This is wild to me considering I saw a variety of genres. On Google, “Carte Blanche” translates to “complete freedom to act as one wishes” and I can’t think of a better title and representation for the album.
Rezzalso released a highly anticipated EP and like “Carte Blanche,” it received tremendous praise across the EDM community. Not to mention, the EP’s cover art is insane and beautiful with Rezz’s colorful swirling eyes. Prior to its release, Space Mom dropped the first three songs, one at a time as singles, and left her fans hungry for the rest of it. “Beyond the Senses” showcases Rezz’s dark sound and deep bass through banger after banger. She successfully experiments with different collaborations, includingUnderoath andDeathpact. My favorite songs from the EP are definitely Stress and Your Soul Will Never Be Released. Considering how much I love this entire EP, I’m seriously thinking of attending one of her shows now in her upcoming tour this fall.
Kayzo delivered a heart-wrenching collaboration withshYbeast &FRANK ZUMMO last Friday. “Cruel Love” definitely pulls at the heartstrings with its emotional vocals and sad melody. This new single departs a little from the recent collabs Kayzo has released only because it’s darker and slower. Nonetheless, the song is still filled with the heavy bass and intense buildups that come with any Kayzo song. In case you didn’t know, shYbeast is I See Star’s lead singerDevin Oliver and Frank Zummo is the drummer of rock band Sum 41. This crossover just continues to prove how artistic Kayzo’s experimentation with fusing rock and electronic music truly is. “Cruel Love” is released in the midst of hype over his new album, hopefully, set to come out later this year. During a live stream on Instagram last week, Kayzo shared that details regarding his new album will come very soon…
Luckily, I had the opportunity to listen to Cruel Love live during Kayzo’s set at Hard Summer a few days ago. He ended his set with this emotional banger and even brought out shYbeast to sing in front of tens of thousands of attendees. It was my first time watching Kayzo live and it was an amazing way to end the weekend.
Meanwhile, a new collab betweenAbove & Beyond andSeven Lions (featuringOpposite the Other) dropped last Friday and has everyone jumping and dancing with joy. Their breathtaking collaboration, “See The End,” captures Seven Lion’s signature melodic dubstep drops with Above & Beyond’s euphoric sound. I vividly remember dancing at EDC in May and watching the iconic trance group bring out Seven Lions to debut their song together. Since it’s their first official collab, the entire crowd was both shocked and ecstatic, to say the least.
Finally, be sure to check out all the other new music that was released last week! There is tons of new music byi_o,SVDDEN DEATH,GTA,Ducky, and the legendaryEric Prydz.Personally, I couldn’t wait to hearIllenium’s new track “Blood” (ft.Foy Vance) and finally hear a snippet of his new album that’s dropping in less than two weeks. But, I was blown away on Friday. Illenium is universally known for his soft, melodic future bass tracks accompanied by beautiful vocals but he continues to prove he can do both soft and heavy. As a loyal fan since 2016, I love mostly anything Illenium drops but I was so thrilled to hear how heavy and filthy his new song is.