• Dubious big room release
• Not a fan of the concept neither the melody
• Asian influences in the breakdown
Qulinez, the Swedish duo was an integral part of our “ones to look out for” artists some years back. However, they disappeared, contributing only traces in recent times, only to return with a rather disappointing result in the form of their latest release – “Shaolin”.
Some of you guys may remember Qulinez for their big room bangers like their debut hit “Troll” (2012!), “Hookah“, “Perfection“, my personal favorite “Drop It” or the 2018 release on Revealed, “Tutankhamun“, or their important collaborations with people like Timmy Trumpet and Steve Aoki… If you have 10 minutes free, I recommend checking them out. They released steadily on Armada Trice in the past, which I missed.
Recently they created Backslash Records, one of those useless independent labels with only one artist in the roster, and the fact that they are using the same font, in the same position of the cover, that Revealed uses, already annoys me. But let’s get to the point.
I don’t like “Shaolin,” and I’m doubtful about the necessity of creating a label just for this kind of releases. The big room style is something that I hear every day on specialized labels like Quartzo or Revealed.dj, on which they have a considerable fanbase that like this sound. The melody doesn’t convince me, I found it challenging to follow, without the dynamism that people like Sebastian Mateo, R3SPAWN, or KEVU (to name a few) put in similar structures. The Asian influence in the breakdown adds a certain freshness, but it’s an overused idea nowadays.
I don’t know how to sugarcoat this, but I am disappointed by “Shaolin”. Apart from being generic, its melody doesn’t even entertain me, a “big” big room lover. I think that Qulinez should focus on developing new sounds, like they did with “Troll” (which was revolutionary) or I don’t see them (and neither Backslash) doing well in the current, continually evolving EDM scene.
What do you think?
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