This week in dance music: We spoke with members of the U.S. breakdancing team ahead of the summer Olympics, we caught up with Empire of the Sun in the wake of their new album, we tracked Charli XCX from her Boiler Room set in Ibiza to the wildly successful ticket sales for her upcoming Sweat tour with Troye Sivan to her panties-forward edit of “Guess” with Billie Eilish. Meanwhile, PinkPantheress announced that she’s cancelling the rest of her 2024 tour to focus on her health, and we chatted with Channel Tres about his new album, his upcoming tour with Kaytranada and a lot more.
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Speaking of a lot more, these are the best new dance tracks of the week.
Isoknock feat. Cade Clair, “4evr”
The emo-meets-trance-meets-bass track that you neither knew you needed (nor were aware that anyone was capable of making) arrives via the title track of 4EVR, the surprise album from Isoknock — the collaborative project from San Diego wunderkinds IsoXo and Knock2. The ravey song comes with a stylish video that gives shades of “November Rain,” but with a more opaque ending which is more fully fleshed out in the nine-minute short film, Isoknock: 4evr. The film comes in tandem with the eight-track album, which blends trap, bass and a lot of wild sounds into a hard, loose, very fresh-sounding 27-minute thrill ride that features the previously released RL Grime collab “Smack Talk.”
The Blessed Madonna feat. DJ E-Clips, “Godspeed”
The Blessed Madonna announces her long-awaited debut album, Godspeed, with the release of the album’s title track, a collaboration with the always excellent DJ E-Clyps that functions as nothing less than the warm welcome to and thesis statement for the entire project. “So sing your song and do your dance; godspeed the boogie, this is your chance,” E-Clyps commands while listing all the good and mysterious things god does over a funky, squelchy beat. This song comes comes alongside the news that Godspeed — out October 11 via Warner Records — will include the Kylie Minogue collab “Another Saturday Night.”
“Godspeed: the word marks the beginning of a journey and sometimes the end of one,” the Blessed Madonna says. “After nearly a year in lockdown, when I signed the paperwork and knew that I was going to be allowed to make this album, I called my dad in Kentucky to tell him the good news. He could not contain his pride and in a way his relief. I was going to be ok. He says it better than I do at the beginning of the record. I lost him suddenly just weeks before the first session, but his voice will live in Godspeed forever and make a million more journeys to everyone who hears it.”
Jamie xx feat. The Avalanches, “All You Children”
Amid a very big month that’s finding Jamie xx play nearly a dozen clubs nights in New York City and Los Angeles as part of his the pop-up club party, The Floor, the producer has dropped the latest track from his forthcoming In Waves. A collaboration with legends The Avalanches, the song is a sort of call to arms for the album and the dancefloor, with lyrics that encourage that “all you children gather round, we will dance… together ” over warm ’80s synths and a sort of chant reminiscent of Bicep’s 2021 essential “Apricots.” In Waves is out via Jamie xx’s own Young label on September 20. In the meantime, he continues The Floor tonight in L.A.
“The Avalanches have always been an inspiration for me,” the producer says. “Their sample technique and how they piece together different sounds is incredible, and collaborating on a track with them has showed me new ways of making music.”
Caribou, “Volume”
Caribou takes a sample from M|A|R|R|S’ 1987 all-time jock jam “Pump Up The Volume” and places it within a deep house, near-ambient-at-times production that ramps up with such subtlety that by the end you might be surprised to find yourself dancing with your eyes closed. The track comes ahead of an expansive 27-date fall and winter tour that will take Caribou mastermind Dan Snaith and crew across the U.S. and into Europe and Canada.
“‘Pump Up the Volume’ was the first time in my life I heard electronic music,” Snaith says, “sitting in front of the family stereo system listening to the top 40 countdown on the radio when I was a kid. It completely blew my mind – it sounded like something from another world. It’s stuck with me ever since – I always wanted to rework it in some way. I didn’t consciously think about it when I started working on my track, but I think there’s something really special about having gone right back to the very beginning in making this.”
Carlita feat. SG Lewis, “The Moment”
Given how prolific SG Lewis has been as a producer lately (check his A+ work with Tove Lo on their recent collaborative EP Body Heat), one could be forgiven for forgetting that he’s also a really good singer. His silky vocals are at the fore of “The Moment,” a lush collab with Turkish-Italian scene star Carlita and the third single from her forthcoming debut album, Sentimental, coming this November on Ninja Tune.
Nicole Moudaber with House of Molly, “Slap Back”
Techno titan Nicole Moudaber takes a right turn into tech house via her Higher Ground debut, “Slap Back,” an extremely club-ready jam built around a bouncy synth and earworm vocals from London duo House of Molly. Moudaber will likely drop it this weekend during her set at France’s Family Piknik, where she’s appearing alongside Sven Vath, LP Giobbi, Josh Wink and many more.
Armin van Buuren, “Es Vedrà”
Dutch titan van Buuren has done a casual 16 Ibiza residencies during his inimitable career, so it’s simply correct to say that he understands the vibe of the island and is channeling that sweat, saltwater and sunsets vibe on his latest, “Es Vedrà.” Out via Armada and named for the giant rock that juts out of the water on the island’s west coast (which many party people say has mystical powers), the song is immersive and high energy, lush and tight and really just plainly catchy. Van Buuren returns to Ibiza for a four Sunday run at Ushuaïa this September.
