Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week’s Best New Tracks From Snakegang, Deadmau5, Hugel & More
This week in dance music: Anyma was announced as the first electronic artist to play Sphere in Las Vegas, with two additional shows quickly being added to the originally announced New Years Eve Date. Will Ferrell announced that Swedish House Mafia will be playing his big charity show in Chicago this fall, Charli XCX told us about her brat summer strategy in our latest cover story, we went inside the Saudi Arabian dance-focused festival Soundstorm and dropped exclusive sets from Lightning In a Bottle 2024.
You wanted more? Baby, we’ve got more. These are the best new dance tracks of the week.
Trending on Billboard
Snakehips x Earthgang, “Glimmer”
U.K. production outfit Snakehips links with Atlanta hip-hop duo Earthgang for a project that could of course only be called Snakegang. The fearsome foursome come hot out the gate with “Glimmer,” which mind melts house music as bubbly as freshly poured champagne with breezy verses for a finished product that’s just plain summertime fun. The track comes from the just out Snakegang EP Vol. 1, a five track collection with a name that we hope means that more volumes are en route. Hear it on the floor during Snakehips’ U.S. club tour, which extends through late September.
Deadmau5, some ep
The one and only Deadmau5 has dug into his archives for the new four-track some ep, which features three new Deadmau5 tracks and a fourth from his techno project Testpilot. Like the lead track “Quetzacotl” which came out last week, “Sever” is quintessential Deadmau5, with pulsing, cinematic synths giving way to territory that’s darker but, as ever, produced so cleanly that it seems to glow. “Sever” comes with a video of the song’s live show visualizer, with Deadmau5 himself currently building a new studio, wherein he will soon get to work on a new full-length. In the meantime, he’s got a stacked summer and fall schedule that includes performing with Rezz as Rezzmau5 at Tomorrowland this weekend and his own Day of the Deadmau5 shows in October in Chicago, Washington D.C., Mexico City and Puerto Rico.
Hugel, Topic & Arash 7 Daecolm, “I Adore You”
If the phrase “simmering lust” had a soundtrack, it’d be this one from French producer Hugel, German/Croation producer Topic, Swedish artist Arash and Zimbabwe-born, London-raised singer Daecolm. Together, the guys fuse Latin and Afro-house rhythms for a track, out via Astralwerks, that’s subtle, sophisticated, radiating romance and perhaps most crucially, currently blowing up on TikTok and other social platforms.
Gorgon City, “Are You Feeling It Too?”
Two of the most consistent guys in the game, Gorgon City today drop their club-focused summer album Reverie. The track opens with “Are You Feeling It Too,” a query which in this moment in time could refer to the creeping feeling of societal dystopia but which in this case seems to just mean the chemistry between two humans who are very into each other. In any case, the juxtaposition of the dreamy/stoney vocals and shifts into tougher, darker, higher-BPM material that, just like so much of the GC catalog, works very well.
Overmono, “Gem Lingo (ovr now)”
This one from the Welsh duo was debuted during a Lot Radio set alongside Fred again.. and Lil Yachty this past February, quickly becoming an in-demand ID. Officially out today via XL Recordings, it’s clear why — with the shuffling garage beat serving as a foundation for clouds of synth and vocals from Jai Paul’s Paul Institute-affiliated singer/songwriter Ruthven, whose presence gives the whole thing a plaintive, soulful and deeply human quality.
Sofi Tukker, “Hey Homie”
Coming from Sofi Tukker’s forthcoming album, Bread, “Hey Homie” is lyrically about romantic love, although the video for the gentle, Brazilian-influenced track gives it a platonic twist, with the clip built of home-movie style clips of the duo’s Sofi Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern traveling the world, making music, performing and generally being, well, homies. A sweet as hell recommended watch.
Praxis feat. Kathy Brown, “Turn Me Out (Extended Dance Remix)”
Kathy Brown is the legendary singer whose voice has graced dance classics including Eminence’s “Give It Up” and Soul Central’s “Strings of Life”, with a new collection celebrating her truly dazzling catalog — and also functioning as a fundraiser to help Brown pay for her current stage four cancer treatments. Out via Glitterbox, which will direct all profits towards Brown’s healthcare fund, Legacy brings together some of her classics, along with new edits — including an undeniable take on “Turn Me Out,” a 1997 Dance Club Songs No. 1.
“None of us can live forever, but some are fortunate enough to create a body of work that will endure long after we are no longer physically present on this Earth,” Brown says in a statement. “I always put the entirety of my soul into every single performance and recording, and that is what the world will hear when they listen, play, and dance to this album. That will be my legacy.”
