Skream, “Song For Olivia”
Last year on Holy Ship, we were privy to a moment between sets with this high-energy London lad. It was around 3 a.m., after Skream's mind-blowing set on the deck, and he was cheesing hard, chatting with some friends. Suddenly, he gets a FaceTime call. It was his son, so he answered and made everyone in the area wave hello.
All that's to say, we know the dubstep-pioneer-turned-house-hero loves his children and music very, very much. We're sure the joy he felt welcoming a baby daughter to the world in August was overwhelming and beautiful, like a driving electro-pop beat with a shimmering synth melody that hits in a warm gush of euphoric abandon. “Song For Olivia” makes us want to dance for the joy of sheer possibility, because Skream wrote it to feel that way. This jam is both heart-warmingly wholesome and an absolute bop. Thanks, Olivia. -- K. Bein
Skrillex, “Mumbai Power”
Dance music fans love to act like Skrillex doesn't release a ton of tunes. In 2018, he tweeted “I'm not dead. I'm not gone. I just needed some time to be a human … Thanks for being patient.” From 2016 to 2018, he dropped big collabs with Rick Ross, RL Grime and What So Not, Poo Bear, Joyryde and others, as well as much-hyped remixes of Kendrick Lamar's “Humble” and Travis Scott's “Sicko Mode.” We'd argue Skrillex stayed releasing massive tunes throughout this imagined “break,” but whatever.
This year, he fed fans a surprise two-track EP called Show Tracks (should have been called Show Tunes, but we'll let it slide), and the bounty was worth the not-so-realistic wait. “Fuji Opener” with Alvin Risk is a banger and a half, but we like “Mumbai Power” featuring Beam for its focus on melody and hard-and-soft dynamics. With crunchy noises, pitched-vocal chops, pop hooks, pretty atmospherics, slightly-asian undertones and abrasive beats, “Mumbai Power” is everything the Skrillex style has come to represent. We can't wait to hear what comes next -- whether it takes him a while to release it or not. -- K. Bein
If the first ten seconds of Slayyyter’s breakthrough track don’t grab you by the proverbial balls with its lyrical gender flip, wherein she crowns herself the new paradigm of the model-banging playboy, then you might be sleeping through the resistance. “Daddy AF” is an empowerment anthem as much as it is a bass-fueled party banger. Those two things haven’t always been compatible, but through Slayyyter we now know they should be. -- ZEL MCCARTHY