Welcome to New Dance Music Mondays, a series where we break down the top hits in the EDM industry released in the past week. We’ll be keeping you in the loop on all things dance and electronic, hand picking the best of the best in our Fresh Drops playlist. This week features club-influenced house music, nostalgic hardcore-inspired beats, and creative, synth-heavy drops.
“BOTH” Connects Dance Music and Hip Hop
“BOTH” represents a classic continuation of Tiësto’s bass-heavy dance music sound. An anthemic chorus to the track that ties the piece together. BIA’s verse adds spice and leads nicely into the first chorus. The chorus features plucky basses and layered vocals that feel perfect to sing along with. 21 Savage adds a potent energy to the track with a flow-switching verse about his success in love and money. With this release, Tiësto continues the crucial work of bridging the gap between mainstream popular music and the dance scene.
Tiësto via Insomniac
“Free” Brings Fiery Synth Heat
“Free” brings a trio of dance music giants together for a fiery hit of energy. Dillon Francis, known for his signature trap and moombahton sound, collaborates with Alesso, a leader for house music globally. Clementine Douglas, legendary songwriter, vocalist, and producer, chimes in to make the tune truly catchy and polished. The drop features syncopated, bendy lead sounds and buzzy basses that complement each other nicely. The drums remain clean yet high-energy.
Dillon Francis via Billboard
Dance Music Legacy of “Lose This Feeling”
Armin van Buuren’s “Lose This Feeling” serves up memorable dance vocals and trance-inspired drum patterns. Armin van Buuren creates and fills out space with warm pads, reverb, and a deep reese bass. The song feels danceable yet also contemplative. This signature bittersweet nature of Armin van Buuren’s music seems a crucial part of what continually brings success to him and his releases. His continued uniqueness easily earns a spot for New Dance Music Mondays.
Armin van Buuren via Resident Advisor
“Sunshine (My Girl)” Eloquently Samples The Temptations
Wuki’s “Sunshine (My Girl)” reiterates the joy of the house music tradition of sampling. Using audio from The Temptations’ “My Girl,” the dance track feels bright, uplifting, and just repetitive enough to catch on to a crowd. Rumbling bass and a punchy kick drum complement the high end of the vocals, pushing the groove forward. The tune remains captivating through Wuki’s use of LFO effects on the vocals, white noise transition sounds, and general mastery of ear candy.
The Temptations’ “My Girl”
“Koala” Delivers Funky, Clean Consistency
Galantis’ “Koala” freshens up this list with funky house drums and soothing yet powerful vocals. The bass thumps in the listener’s chest while the melody dances atop the drums. The transitions remain typical of dance music in this style, however they feel effective and clean. Galantis has a history of delivering high-caliber hits for EDM fans globally, and this release is no exception.
“In My Hands” Brings Classic Dance Music Rhythms
With uptempo drums and thumping basslines, Wax Motif’s “In My Hands (with Camden Cox)” creates a memorable and danceable vibe. The squeaky, washed out synth hits in the drop add refreshing character and quirk, while the consistent kick and offbeat open hat drive the sense of movement. Wax Motif demonstrates professional usage of space, dynamically changing between washed-out, distant sounds and front-and-center beats.
“In My Hands” on UKF
“Kids” Shines with Dance Music Nostalgia
Steve Aoki and Tony Junior’s “Kids” opens with claps and plucky synths. The artists lead the track into an emotional and relatively empty verse, followed by striking, layered synth leads. The buildup flows eloquently into a hardstyle drop with heavily-distorted pitched kick drums. Hearing this nostalgic dance music sound brings listeners in, while Steve Aoki’s modern production techniques keep the atmosphere fresh and engaging. The second drop evolves from the first, maintaining interest by speeding up the tempo and altering the arrangement.
Official music video for “Kids”
“The Horizon (With You)” Features Hopeful Melodies & Grooves
Dutch duo DubVision team up with Nu-La for heartfelt melodies and simple, yet effective, progressive house grooves. They continue their dance music legacy through the usage of subtle, emotive transitions and crafty synth work that catches the listener’s attention. The vocals, repeating “I wanna run to the horizon with you,” add depth and meaning to the track. DubVision convey this sense of longing through the production, using impacts and syncopated delays to build a sense of distance.
“Around Me” Heats Up With Groove Switches
RL Grime delivers world-class heat to New Dance Music Mondays with “Around Me.” The track begins with an open, atmospheric intro. A fast four-on-the-floor drum groove enters around 0:28, featuring an exceptionally punchy kick. The intensity increases for a drop featuring bass house “wub” synths, and the drop leaves with a drum groove switch. A faint amen break plays in the background of the buildup into drop two, which shines just as brightly as drop one.
RL Grime from GQ
“Hands Up” Defies Genre Labels
Deorro, Dave Mak, and Scheffwell construct replayable rhythmic patterns and synth sounds in “Hands Up.” Featuring a high-pitched, moombahton-esque synth lead, future bounce drum sounds, and big room grooves, this track is rebellious to its core. The buildup adds a lot of drama with a noisy snare and a high-energy pre-drop vocal. The slight changes to the drum arrangements in the drop help maintain excitement. “Hands Up” represents an optimistic future for the future of EDM and the creativity of its producers.
Check Out the Playlist
With each passing week, it feels as if dance music continues to grow stronger in terms of versatility and energy. With artists like Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, and Deorro bringing fans bangers this week, we look forward to the weeks to come. Make sure to check out our Fresh Drops playlist to hear all of these releases together!
