Electric Feels: Your Weekly Electronic Music Re-Cap

ALBUM / EP OF THE WEEK

JNTHN STEIN - Changes

As far as online music production collectives go, Team Supreme is on top. Boasting names including Mr. Carmack, AWE and Djemba Djemba, the globally-renowned collective has been the source of some of electronic’s most desired acts, one of these being label co-founder JNTHN STEIN. 2017 is the year that STEIN breaks out from the crowd and establishes his own solo identity, kicking things off with the release of his Changes EP on Australian label etcetc. Across the EP’s three-track duration, JNTHN STEIN explores the hip-hop-influenced productions that have seen him and his collective strive, incorporating touches of jazz and electronic melodies to largely percussion-driven pieces of work. Changes displays the more electronic side of his work, working with spiralling synth melodies and crisp percussion amongst soulful vocal work, an obvious change against the more R&B-orientated flavour of CMPRSSN and the BXRBER-featuring closer Silvertown. It’s all class.

Best Track(s): Changes

SINGLES / REMIXES OF THE WEEK

Gallant, Tablo + Eric Nam - Cave Me In

2016 was all about the male hip-hop singer-songwriter. There was Anderson Paak, Childish Gambino, Vic Mensa, PartyNextDoor, The Weeknd - the list goes on. With the release of Weight In Gold back in 2015, US soul and hip-hop artist Gallant joined this ranking and now, two years later, he’s kicking off 2017 in a big way – teaming up with Tablo and Eric Nam for Cave Me In. Produced by Lophiile, Cave Me In is everything we loved from Weight In Gold plus so much more. Gallant’s soulful vocals soar over a simplistic, percussion-soaked production that’s joined by soft piano melodies and touches of synth as the track progresses; it’s quite a thing of beauty. Gallant manages to, somehow, take a nostalgic, R&B sound and bringing it forward to 2017 – something I’m looking forward to hearing a whole heap more of in the next year.

Alina Baraz - Electric feat. Khalid

Continuing this mellow, R&B sound is Alina Baraz, an exciting singer-songwriter based out of California. This week she returned after an extensive break from the spotlight, teaming up with young Texan artist Khalid for Electric, a swooning, R&B collaboration that is both parts dreamy and suspenseful. With a tropical-tinged, electronic production that blends 808 kicks with soft quitter and clicking percussion and the hazy vocals of Khalid and Baraz, Electric is a strong return to form for Baraz, a return that already boasts a wide array of tour dates across the US (dates on her website) and promises of new music in the near future.

Keys N Krates x KRANE - Right Here

Canadian electronic trio Keys N Krates have become somewhat renowned for their electrifying live shows, bringing their bass-loaded trap productions to life with a full live show, drum kits and all. Right Here is their first original in a year, teaming up with producer-of-the-moment KRANE (formerly KRNE) for a thrilling collaboration that blends the hard-hitting trap of Keys N Krates with KRANE’s more melodic, future-bass productions. Keys N Krates’ quick-firing nature of song-writing, predictable if you’re familiar with their previous work, keeps Right Here full of flavour and energy, pulsating with rounds of punching bass and percussion until it lets up after its four-minute duration – which feels distinctly shorter in comparison to other songs of the same length. Here’s hoping that 2017 will bring the pair of them down under too.

Louis The Child - Love Is Alive feat. Elohim

Louis The Child were one of my stand-out acts of the year just gone, with the Chicago producers shining in the form of tracks including Fire and Weekend. Love Is Alive, their new single featuring Elohim, continues the duo’s consistent run of A-grade future-pop cross-overs, balancing a soft guitar riff and bass line with the fuzzy, natural vocals of Elohim which adds a rather beautiful, almost home-made touch to the song’s clean feel. Having co-produced tracks including The Chainsmokers’ number one Closer, Louis The Child have developed quite the knack for addicting, out-of-this-world electro-pop productions, something that Love Is Alive proves once again.

Kodak Black - Too Many Years feat. PnB Rock (Baauer Rewind)

If there’s one person to make Kodak Black universally-liked (something that is near-impossible to achieve), it’s none other than Baauer. Reworking his 2016 single Too Many Years, Baauer takes the vocals from PnB’s upbeat feature and adds an almost drum-and-bass production underneath. I’m personally not the biggest fan of drum-and-bass, but Baauer manages to keep it restrained and tasteful, borrowing the genre’s rapid percussion style and giving it his own groove, which includes a funky, club-ready breakdown towards the end.

Tour Announcements

Tennyson

Crystal Castles