This week saw a new round of disappointments on many fronts but also the rise of some interesting players. As always, we’ll be compiling a short recap of notable tracks that we didn’t have time to cover during the previous week. We hope you enjoy our selection and if you have any tracks you’d like to see here, please feel free to post your suggestions in the comments.

Olly James & SaberZ – Fusion

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After collaborating on a bootleg in 2015 and rising to the top of the big room genre, SaberZ and Olly James have come again for their first original track and it is…. Just alright. First thing I need to address is that the drop melody is nearly identical to “Kalypso” by Michael Phase – who in my opinion did a much better job with the melody. Now that that’s out of the way, the breakdowns are barebones with trance arps and no memorable melodies. Overall, while the drop melody will be catchy for the uninitiated, “Fusion” does not feel like these guys put in their best efforts to make this the anthem it should have been.

59/100

Jonas Aden & Conor Ross – Library Thugs ft. RebMoe

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When I first heard this track, I was taken aback by the quirky vocals from RebMoe which in my opinion lacked the charm of her previous collaboration with Jonas Aden, “I Don’t Speak French.” The lyrics themselves are pretty relatable but then upon a quick YouTube search, found that Jonas Aden and rising talent Conor Ross basically remixed an old track from RebMoe. The original mix and video fits the lyrics much better as it is so much more self-aware than the Hexagon version. The usual unique marketing from Jonas also seems to be absent on this one, although there is a music video dropping soon which might add that charm back into this release. Otherwise it just feels like an odd departure from their usual individuality and character.

67/100

The Golden Army – Where We Belong

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Seeing The Golden Army on Revealed Community with their characterless art makes me sad. To see this group that collaborated with KSHMR twice, and has a release on Spinnin’ Main with Timmy Trumpet reduced to this machine of a label just sucks the soul right out of my body. “Where We Belong” could have had a fantastic, proper release on an established label like Art of Creation, Dirty Workz, or Scantraxx with a few tweaks here and there. The first drop is a bit simple and the second drop is largely the same as the first save for a nice key change near the end. Looking at their socials, The Golden Army seems primarily concerned with the music rather than building their brand. Still, this release just cheapens their image to me given the string of truly awful tracks that have come out from Community including the abominable “One Time” from Awaker.

78/100

Sagan – Take Me There

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As a marketer, I still can’t wrap my head around the beffudling “Generation Hexagon” sublabel. I know I’ve talked about it in previous recaps but now seeing longtime Hexagon veteran Sagan on the imprint only increases my believe that this branding decision was made solely to increase the output of the label. This of course is something many labels are doing as there are plenty of great tracks to be signed that aren’t necessarily hits, but certain fans will enjoy them. “Take Me There” seems to draw inspiration from some of the recent Mord Fustang tracks while rely on a simple melody that has complexities interspersed between the beats in a quirky arrangement. “Gedankenschloss” specifically comes to mind as a similar style drop. I guess in the end, it’s nice to see Sagan try new sounds that don’t rely too heavily on his overused signature.

76/100

Crisis Era & Stoppa – Earthquake

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Crisis Era is back with another EP on Barong running through their greatest styles. As a fan of “Make Me Bounce,” “Drop It Low,” and “Shake,” it’s clear that “Earthquake” was made for me. Melodically it shares many similarities with “Shake” (although “Earthquake” is a semitone lower so DJs can’t mix them together) but the new vocals and trap section elevate “Earthquake” above its predecessor. Crisis Era has a pretty diverse sound portfolio but when it comes to this particular style of hard bounce, they’re beginning to run this sound into the ground a little bit.

69/100

Ibranovski – All Over Me

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The new wave of house music rushing over the scene as a result of Fisher and Chris Lake is undeniable. It’s a trend that’s so perplexing because it’s not quite a trend, but more of a rise of the genre. Now whether this influenced the latest track from Ibranovski remains to be scene, “All Over Me” is certainly a softening of his signature house sound and aggressive basslines. The “underground” atmosphere is still here which results in a pleasant experience. It’s bouncy, clean, and effective.

81/100

Wasback & DJ Junior (TW) – Alive

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“Alive” sounded like Wasback & DJ Junior tried to remake “Remember” from Magnificence and ended up with a far inferior bootleg with an extremely outdated and irritating vocal sample. The whole track is wholly unpleasant to listen to with frequencies clashing and all where they shouldn’t be. The lead in the drop is weak and the response section is even worse. Overall some good ideas marred by bad samples and overcompression.

42/100

A R I Z O N A – Problems (Ship Wrek Remix)

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A new player who has been working his way through the remix circuit is Ship Wrek, who has been adding his brand of house to pop tracks in very enjoyable way. The short kicks and juicy basslines have captured many labels and listeners attention and fits right into the current state of the industry perfectly. Props to him for positioning himself so well and delivering consistently decent tracks and remixes. For this particular remix, the arrangement could be a bit more dynamic but nothing too annoying to want to skip through it.

75/100

Jay Klash, MILS & Anders Nilsson – Swack

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MILS debuts alongside Jay Klash and Anders Nilsson for a fantastic underground self-release. In the aptly name release, “Swack” slaps hard with a punchy kick, g-house vocals, and a nice selection of bass house samples in the drop. A promising introduction for MILS and great combination of bass house talent for this one.

79/100

We hope you enjoyed our recap of selected songs from last week. If there is a song that you felt should have been on here, be sure to leave it in the comments below and we’ll do our best to give our take on it. Certain songs were not included because they will be covered in more detail in the following days so make sure you’re following our social media pages to see all of our latest posts! 

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