New Music Friday is intense. Hundreds of songs drop from artists around the world, and you’re supposed to somehow find the best ones. It’s fun work, but it’s time-consuming — so we at Billboard Dance want to give you a hand. Each week, we sift through the streams and dig in the digital crates to present the absolute must-hears from the wide breadth of jams.
While it was a relative quiet week in the dance world, the scene never really sleeps, thus the collection of winning new music we have below. Ready? We know you are. Let’s dig in.
Jackson Wang & Galantis, “Pretty Please”
Who wants to have a little more fun in their lives? You? Yes? Like, right now? Well you’re in luck buddy, because Chinese sensation Jackson Wang has paired up with the eternally effervescent Galantis for “Pretty Please,” a joyride of sparkle and moxie on which the Swedish duo lay down a buoyantly bubblegum production upon which Wang delivers vocals that are dually playful and very, very smooth.
And yes, there’ more. Directed, written, and edited by Wang himself, the slick music video pays homage to the classic Hong Kong Chinese films he grew up watching. Is there romance? You bet. Is there Wang in a rainsoaked t-shirt. For sure. Is there dancing? You’re damn right there’s dancing, with Wang performing some fantastically tight choreography alongside the globally renowned dance group, and frequent collaborators, Kinjaz.
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Eli & Fur, “Walk The Line”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH1Sy1XOYi4
London duo Eli & Fur (Eliza Noble and Jennifer Skillman) drop a delicious double track via the always excellent Anjunadeep. The A-side “Walk The Line” has us dreaming of sunrise sets at Burning Man, where a whole bunch of us would be partying our faces off this weekend, if Burning Man were actually happening. Playing this one loud is helping us stay positive, and we recommend you try it too.
Hermitude Feat. Daniel Bedingfield, “Spotlight”
Australian duo Hermitude have always walked the fine line between the indie pop and the dance world, but on their latest, they throw themselves fully onto the dancefloor. “Spotlight” is an uplifting single featuring Daniel Bedingfield (yes, the Daniel Bedingfield of “Gotta Get Thru This” fame) on which the singer delivers R&B-inflected vocals over an increasingly scintillating future house production. You’re gonna want to learn the lyrics asap, because this one feels really good to sing along with.
Booka Shade, “Plexus 3AM”(Nicole Moudaber Remix)
Techno queen Nicole Moudaber’s take on Booka Shade’s May single “Plexus 3AM” sounds so much like being flung through deep space that the accompanying video actually mimics the experience. In Moudaber’s hands, the song builds for two full minutes and pays light homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey before releasing into hypnotically melodic techno. Get ready for lift off.
ford., “The Color of Nothing”
ford.’s pretty, layered and often soaring productions are indeed spiritually akin to the work of Odesza, so it makes sense that the producer’s sophomore is being released by the duo’s Foreign Family Collective label this October 16. First though, we get the album’s title track, a smart, contemplative production that delivers both brightness and emotional heft.
“I started writing this song right around the beginning of winter 2018,” the artist is quoted in a statement. “It was a couple months into my first (and subsequently last) semester at university and my first time experiencing a full winter in Utah. I spent the majority of my time hibernating in my room, working on music consistently. At the time, so many things were changing in my life, music was the one thing I had to ground me; it was a chance for me to be honest with my thoughts and emotions. “The Color of Nothing” as a song represents this pivotal point, this blank canvas that comes with the turning of a new leaf where all preconceived ideas are left behind and one can create without boundaries or expectations. In a strange way, it’s a song that has been somewhat of an anchor for me through a lot over the past two years.”
Kasablanca, “The Hills”
Two tracks in and we still don’t know who’s behind the Kasablanca project, but honestly, who cares. More crucial is that the mysterious act’s second single “The Hills” hits as hard as its first, January’s “Hold Me Close.” In a moment when most of us are itching for somewhere, like anywhere, to go out dancing, “The Hills” offers nearly seven minutes of metaphorical escape via immersive melodic techno with some futuristic and grandiose flourishes that will altogether make you long for a dark corner of a packed club in which to close your eyes and get lost in the music. The good news is that just stepping into your closet with a pair of headphones can achieve essentially the same effect.