New Music Friday is intense. Hundreds of songs drop from artists around the world, and you’re supposed to somehow find the best ones. It’s fun work, but it’s time-consuming — so we at Billboard Dance want to give you a hand. Each week, we sift through the streams and dig in the digital crates to present the absolute must-hears from the wide breadth of jams.
With a new President-Elect and some hopeful news about a possible COVID-19 vaccine, there are a few reasons to celebrate this week, and we’ve got the music with which to do it.
The past few days have already delivered an excellent new collab from Deadmau5 and Kiesza, and a stunning single from TroyBoi. Add that to all of the new music below and you have yourself a tidy little playlist for the freakin’ weekend. Let’s dig in.
Valentino Khan & Alison Wonderland, “Anything”
The beauty of Alison Wonderland and Valentino Khan working together is not only that their single “Anything” is great, but that the promo they’ve been doing for it has delightfully involved quite a bit of the two producers dressing up as each other. While the vibe betwixt the L.A.-based artists and pals may be absurdist, the music is serious heat, with a bumping future house production carrying Wonderland’s spare vocals. “Anything” is out now via Mad Decent.
VNSSA, “Out Of My Head”
Rising Los Angeles producer Vnssa returns with her two-track Dance Night EP. The project’s second song is “Out Of My Head,” a squiggly cut of left-field techno featuring vocals from Bianca Gardner, who implores some imaginary antagonist to get the hell out of her head over Vnssa’s urgent, acid-influenced production. The EP, out via Trippy Ass Technologies, also features an expanded edit of the track by Justin and Christian Martin.
Kapuchon, “10 Years Later”
Who is Kapuchon, you ask? Well, it’s Afrojack. Today the Dutch mainstage veteran revives his techno alter-ego with “10 Years Later,” a tech house frenzy furnished with actual bells and whistles. The song’s title pays homage to the last time the producer born Nick van de Wall released music under the Kapuchon name, with the new single also marking the first release from Kapuchon Records. It is, van de Wall says in a press release, a good time to make music without the pressures of commercial success, although we suspect this track will still do quite well for him. The producer will livestream a set as Kapuchon tonight via his Facebook page starting at 8 p.m. ET.
TSHA Feat. Trio Da Kali, “Demba”
London-based producer Tsha returns today with her excellent Flowers EP, a four-track project that includes the previously released single “Sister” and closes with the dually delicate and soaring “Demba.” A collaboration with Malian trio Trio Da Kali, the song shimmers and shines, with Tsha’s clean, layered production melding seamlessly with the traditional Malian vocals, percussion and guitar. Flowers is out now via Ninja Tune.
Kage, “Grave”
Porter Robinson and Tchami are fans of Kage, and you should be, too. The Dutch bass house producer returns today with his new EP, The Grave, the title track from which is a classic bass house thumper with slightly threatening low register vocals and an extra swaggy mid-song tempo change. The Grave is out now via Monstercat.
Louie Vega & The Martinez Brothers with Marc E. Bassy, “Let It Go” (Honey Dijon’s Release Mix)
We loved Louie Vega and The Martinez Brothers’ deeply smooth New York homage “Let It Go” when it was released last November, and today — almost exactly a year later — the song gets a scintillating edit via the one and only Honey Dijon. In her paws, “Let It Go” goes faster and darker, with lyrics by Mark E. Bassy stretched out like taffy over the woozy Latin-influenced beats. The fresh take comes from a collection of “Let It Go” edits out now via Defected Records.