This week in dance music: Bunt.’s manager Nick Groff talked about using emerging technology to turn phones back on fans during shows during Billboard’s Live Music Summit in Los Angeles on Monday, Nov. 3.
Diplo reflected on his ex Katy Perry and her new boyfriend, the former prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. Demo Lovato’s new dance album It’s Not That Deep bumped Tame Impala’s Deadbeat out of the number one spot on Top Dance/Electronic albums and the co-writer of Deadbeat’s star single “Dracula” Sarah Aarons told us about the production process and the procrastination that brought the song to life.
“It was like, ‘Cool, this mix is due in 45 minutes,’” Aarons recalled of finishing “Dracula.” “When you know you have a deadline, your brain just goes, ‘This is the right thing.’ [Kevin Parker] called me and he went, ‘What about this melody?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah! How did we not do that melody already? It totally fits the song.’ We’d written lyrics so many times, we already had so many lyrics floating around our brains. We had so much of what we knew the song was that it kind of clicked.”
Meanwhile, Fred again.. continued his 10 shows/10 songs/10 weeks run in Dublin (and in fact released three songs this week), we celebrated the 20 year anniversary of Madonna’s disco-laced Confessions On a Dancefloor and Calvin Harris announced a 2026 Las Vegas residency at Wynn Nightlife, the property where the Scottish producer had his first ever Vegas residency back in 2011.
The Avicii Estate and Pophouse released the first of a three-part documentary series about the making of the late artist’s 2015 album Stories and Above & Beyond released their own documentary about the making of their July album Bigger Than All of Us. Plus, Grammy season kicked off with the nominations announced today, with Skrillex, PinkPantheress and Fred again.. leading the dance/electronic fields with two noms each.
Is there more? You bet there’s more. These are the best new dance tracks of the week.
Charlotte de Witte, Charlotte de Witte
Trending on Billboard
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}After releasing 25 EPs over the last ten years, techno star Charlotte de Witte presents her eponymous debut album today (Nov. 6) via her own label, KNTXT. The Belgian producer has said she went back through her own personal history in techno and the history of the genre at large for inspiration, with the LP thus functioning in sort of autobiographical fashion as she conjures moods of both partying and hypnotic spirituality, often finding the commonality between the two. The 11 track-set includes the ravey and undeniable single “Heads That Know” and the eight-minute epic “Hymn,” which brings Gregorian chant to the club, as well as collaborators including Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance, Welsh rapper Comma Dee and poet and visual artist Alice Evermore.
Charlotte de Witte is out on KNTXT. Listen to it here.
Illenium & Ryan Tedder ‘With Your Love’
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}The Illenium machine is fully firing up the engines via the release of “With Your Love,” the third single from the producer’s forthcoming album Odyssey, which he today announced will be released Feb. 6, almost exactly a month before he begins his residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere. A collaboration with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, the track is a classic Illenium future bass chest-thumper, and one we can easily imagine creating a moment of teary-eyed euphoria when played live at Sphere. Meanwhile Illenium’s schedule for the end of the year includes a grip of festival dates including his own Ember Shores event happening Dec. 5-7 in Riviera Maya, Mexico, the lineup for which also includes Seven Lions, Crankdat, Wooli and Jessica Audiffred.
“With Your Love” is out on Republic Records. Listen to it here.
Solomun & Anyma, ‘Till I Die’
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}The first ever collaborative single from titans Solomun and Anyma, who played a handful of buzzy b2bs this year, finds them meshing their signature styles — Solomun’s muscular and always deeply cool work and Anyma’s darkly underground but accessible melodic techno — into a track that punches hard and doesn’t miss. “Till I Die” bumps along hypnotically, with the airy vocals juxtaposing some lightness and femininity to the undeniable peaktime heater.
“Till I Die” is out on Diynamic Music. Listen to it here.
Romy, ‘Love Who You Love’
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}“Finally I found peace/ And I won’t feel guilty/ I feel a change in me/ Don’t care if the world can see/ That shame don’t belong to me,” Romy sings on her new one-off single “Love Who You Love,” delivering lyrics that would be profound even if they weren’t set to music. But layered over a gentle yet deep production by the producer/singer alongside her xx bandmate Jamie xx and Bloodpop, the track is a genuinely moving declaration about the beauty of queer love, and the victory of having the freedom to drop any guilt or shame and just love you who love.
“My new song ‘Love Who You Love’ is a proudly queer love song” Romy says in a statement. “It was also really important to me to acknowledge that the world is still such a challenging place for so many of us to show our love openly in the LGBTQ+ community. In reaction to that I wanted to write a song that not only celebrates and uplifts love as well as calls for change. The history of resilience and togetherness in the face of unbelievable challenges within the community is so powerful. Personally, finding friends, family and people I look up to and learn from – through queer clubbing has made me feel so much less alone and braver in so many aspects of life. These experiences and the people I’ve met, continue to be so inspiring to the music I’m making and this song intends to be a love letter of visibility and pride. No one can take the love you feel away from you — it’s yours.”
“Love Who You Love” is out on Young and comes with a thoughtful video starring Romy and directed by her creative and life partner Vic Lentaigne. Listen to it here.
Sam Gellaitry, Anywhere Here Is Perfect
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}Do not sleep on Anywhere Here Is Perfect, the fully no-skips debut album from longtime dance darling Sam Gellaitry. The Scottish producer balances lightness and heft on the 12-track album, bringing a pop buoyancy paired throughout with layered, atmospheric (and in instances deliciously ’80s synth-inspired) productions that conjure moods of love and sophistication, without every losing a spirit of fun.
Anywhere Here Is Perfect is out on Major Recordings. Listen to it here.
