Electric Feels: Your Weekly Electronic Music Recap

SINGLES / REMIXES OF THE WEEK

Kilter - Hold Tight feat. Pip Norman / Shatter / Waste Time feat. Woodes

Ahead of his forthcoming debut album out next month, Australian percussion king Kilter has shared an entourage of singles from the upcoming package - including collaborations with Pip Norman and Woodes. The three singles, each taken from his upcoming debut, reflect on his past work and his future brilliantly, combining that well-known, elegant Kilter charm with some curveballs thrown in to get the album hype hitting fever pitch.

The first single, Hold Tight, is a reflective summary on his now well-known previous singles, which saw the Sydney producer emerge seemingly out of nowhere a few years back. Featuring Pip Norman on that guest vocal tip, Hold Tight simmers with this dense, thick cloud of synth work, which swirls around underneath Norman's dim vocals which eventually becoming quite championing and anthemic when it hits chorus time. Shatter is the bridging gap between the past and the present for Kilter, with a synth-driven production which nostalgically kicks off underneath some catchy vocal samples like his previous work. However, the single gets really forward-thinking and futuristic in its breakdowns, which have this hip-hop/trappy edge to them which are just brilliant.

The best single for me, however, is Waste Time. Featuring the stylish and grateful vocals of Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Woodes, Waste Time is also a bit of gap-bridger, blurring the lines between Kilter's typically very electronic sound and the more indie-driven sounds of Woodes. It's an absolute pearler of a track, which is definitely making the wait for Kilter's debut record well-worth the long wait.

Wild Eyed Boy - I Don't Know Anymore

London-via-Sydney vocalist and producer Wild Eyed Boy is an extremely promising one, even if his online repertoire isn't particularly large. First came his sensational cover of Sia's belter Chandelier, which he then followed it up two-for-two with some killer vocal features for GRMM (Die Young) and Cosmo's Midnight (Snare). Last week he returned, dropping a gripping pop anthem for a debut single in I Don't Know Anymore. As just mentioned, I Don't Know Anymore is a track rather large on the pop Richter-scale, with this stadium-filling sound that could've easily come from some of the radio's biggest voices. It's thrilling and mesmerising, and perhaps most important of all in your debut single - it's bloody exciting.

London Topaz - Midnight feat. Georgia van Etten

Melbourne-based producer London Topaz has been a source for some of Australia's most underrated house bangers for a while now, with Midnight - his new single featuring Georgia van Etten - now joining this list too (however, hopefully it's a little less underrated this time). In true Topaz fashion, Midnight is a bubbling house track, whose production sort of trips and tumbles with masterfully placed kicks of bass and some 8-bit-like synth work, which drive van Etten's soaring vocals which lushly run above the single's crafty production.

Calvin Harris - Rollin feat. Future & Khalid

In the 2006 - 2010 era, Scottish super-producer Calvin Harris established himself as one of the most exciting names in the disco-house scene, a title which all but completely disappeared as he "sold out" in favour of a stadium-selling EDM sound which has gone on to see him become one of the world's - if not THE - most successful name in electronic music. Then, came Slide. Featuring Frank Ocean and Migos, Slide quickly became the song of the summer, with Harris distancing himself from this maximalist EDM sound in favour of a much more soulful, disco-tinged production. After flopping with Heatstroke - which featured Ariana Grande, Young Thug and Pharrell Williams - the maestro has returned with his forthcoming album's third cut Rollin - featuring Future and R&B crooner Khalid. Rollin sees Harris strike gold once again, with a bustling house-infused beat which chugs away underneath some killer R&B/hip-hop verses from Khalid and Future respectively.

Portugal The Man - Feel It Still (Lido Remix)

It's really no surprise to find this remix in here, as Lido, after all, is one of our go-to's for smooth electronic remixes and originals. His new remix, of Portugal The Man's Feel It Still, continues this head-turning trend with a gorgeous flip that sees the producer electrify the otherwise quite indie-rock single. Pitching the vocals to give it this really playful, innocent sound to it, Lido masterfully remixes Feel It Still into a crashing, percussion-dominated single which clangs and bangs with smashing snare, hollow kicks of bass, and this summery marimba sound which floats around in the remix's verses. Art, as per usual.

Nina Las Vegas - Deserts

Saving the best 'til last here, Deserts is the first original single from Australian in-demand export and all-rounder Nina Las Vegas in 2017. As per her previous production, Deserts is a bubbly, saccharine sweet club jam which is fun and energetic, taking the seriousness away from music and bringing it back to what it should be - having fun. Co-produced by Australia's club music king Swick, Deserts also sees NLV's vocals take the lead for the first time, giving this really refreshing lightness to the single's already airy feel. As she builds her career as a producer and now vocalist after quitting triple j a while back, it seems Nina Las Vegas has only grown and grown - from original to original and remix to remix. Deserts only confirms this, ushering in a new, vocal-led era for the powerhouse which will no doubt continue in the build up to her next major release.

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