HARLEY GIRL Australian producer and DJ HARLEY GIRL returns with ‘Friction’, a new single bringing together UK garage, bass music and his increasingly distinctive approach to club focused electronics. Created from an idea first started in January, ‘Friction’ revolves around the contrast between shimmering, off kilter synth work and a gritty vocal sampled from Kenyan group Team Pyscho. The vocal became the missing piece after HARLEY GIRL discovered the original recording through Tracklib. Initially sitting around 20 BPM slower, its tightly delivered phrasing caught his attention and provided an effective counterpoint to the looser movement of his instrumental. “I started ‘Friction’ early in January of this year,” explains HARLEY GIRL. “It’s a combination of a few of my favourite things at the moment, really glidey synths with a touch of dissonance in some of the chords and voicings.” He continues: “I found this incredible track by a group from Kenya called Team Pyscho. It was about 20 BPM slower, but the phrasing and energy was magnetic. I was really drawn to this vocal that felt quite on grid, in contrast to the synths I’d played that felt like they slid in between the grid in a way.” That push and pull runs throughout ‘Friction’. Fluid synth lines shift around the track’s more rigid rhythmic elements, while the vocal provides a recurring focal point as the production maintains its garage driven momentum. The single also signals the beginning of a new run of material from the Australian producer, following a period spent refining the club focused side of his sound. HARLEY GIRL will also bring his latest material to BIGSOUND in the coming weeks, where he is scheduled to appear across a series of showcases. With ‘Friction’, he opens his next chapter by drawing from the rhythmic language of UK club music while continuing to develop an electronic identity of his own. HARLEY GIRL https://linktr.ee/harleygirl.vroom

JKriv Ten years after his first edits outing on Razor N Tape, JKriv finds himself back where one of the most recognisable threads of his career began. Not because he has spent the intervening decade away from edits, far from it, but because his latest four track collection provides an opportunity to reconsider what the format means to him after another decade spent digging, producing, DJing and building one of Brooklyn’s most respected independent dance music institutions. JKriv Edits Vol 2 is out now and available via Juno. The distinction matters. JKriv has never treated edits as grand artistic statements in need of intellectual justification. His philosophy is much more closely connected to the reason the practice existed in the first place: DJs finding ways to make records work differently on a dancefloor. “I’ve always felt that an edit was only to serve the purpose of making a track a bit more playable from a DJ perspective, or just rearranging an original based on personal taste,” he explains. Ten years have sharpened the technique without fundamentally changing that thinking. Asked what separates a meaningful edit from one that merely rearranges an existing record, he laughs at the premise. “Is there such a thing as a meaningful edit? I always just try to be respectful to the original music.” That combination of instinct, utility and respect runs through the new record, although its source material moves JKriv into slightly different territory from his previous Razor N Tape outings. “This record is less disco-ey and a bit more clubby, with the source material all coming from the 80s and 90s.” Rather than setting out to make a cohesive EP, the collection emerged naturally once he realised several edits he had been working on belonged together. The resulting four tracks reveal different degrees of intervention, from relatively subtle rearrangement to much more involved studio reconstruction. ‘I Feel Amor’ might sound like one of the record’s most immediate transformations, taking a familiar disco classic into Spanish language territory, but it is actually the track JKriv changed least. “It’s more of a rearrangement with a very minimal amount of drum production and EQ work to the original cover version from the 90s,” he says. ‘Love Dub’, meanwhile, gets much closer to the way JKriv personally likes to manipulate a dancefloor. Stripped back, bass heavy and deliberately patient, it refuses to give away its biggest moment too quickly. “This one is actually probably my favourite of the four, or at least the one that I seem to play the most,” he explains. “I just really like how long it makes you wait for the big bass drop in the middle.” There is significantly more of JKriv in its construction too, with additional drum production, acapella and effects used to reshape the source into something built around anticipation rather than instant recognition. That willingness to withhold the obvious payoff becomes even more mischievous on ‘Cuando Bailo’. Its source material should be immediately familiar to plenty of listeners, but instead of simply delivering the recognisable moments, JKriv spends much of the track dancing around them. “I thought it was fun to bring in the ridiculous Spanish language version acapella and turn it into a club track that teases out the very recognisable parts of the original song, but never quite goes THERE.” It also exposes something increasingly important to his approach. Dance music does not always need to carry itself with complete seriousness. “There’s always room for a bit of cheeky humour in music,” he says. “Music is joyous and things don’t always have to be so serious.” The final track has its own story. JKriv first heard the obscure, Prince adjacent record behind ‘Dance Sexy’ through a friend years ago, before unexpectedly stumbling across a copy himself. “I was ecstatic when I found a copy in a dollar bin.” Working from a B side mix, he rebuilt it with substantial additional drums and his own keyboard parts recorded on a Juno 106, pushing the original into darker, hypnotic club territory. For all the decisions made in the studio, however, JKriv still considers the dancefloor the place where an edit ultimately proves itself. “What is an edit if it doesn’t work on the dancefloor?” He regularly tests unfinished versions during his sets, using the response and, just as importantly, the physical sound of the record in a club to identify things that are difficult to judge in isolation. “You always hear things in the mix or learn things that could work better in the arrangement.” Perhaps that sensitivity can be traced back much further than his history as a DJ. Before Razor N Tape, before the edits and before JKriv became an established name across disco and house, he was a trained jazz musician and live performer. He has now been studying music in one form or another for almost 35 years. That experience inevitably shapes the way he hears records, although he is reluctant to reduce it to technical knowledge. “I think it heavily shapes everything I do, probably in more ways than I even realise,” he says. “In the end, I think the most valuable qualities are feel and instinct.” Those two ideas could just as easily describe the development of Razor N Tape itself. What began with edits has grown across more than 150 releases into a platform increasingly centred around original music, while its Brooklyn record shop has given the label something that cannot exist entirely through releases, streaming platforms or social media: a physical community. “The shop has been a wonderful project,” JKriv says. “In a way running a record label is about building community, and the shop is a very real manifestation of that, which is extremely gratifying and rewarding.” The label’s evolution has not required an increasingly complicated set of rules either. Its remit has broadened considerably, but the filter remains remarkably simple. “We really don’t have many restrictions other than finding music that we love and want to share with the world.” There is an interesting tension there. Razor N Tape is now more interested in original music and supporting artists actively contributing to contemporary dance culture, yet the edit remains part of its foundations. Its edits series has also remained deliberately vinyl only from the beginning. Part of that decision comes from the complicated rights landscape surrounding edits, but there is also something more deliberate behind keeping these records physical. “It’s of course partially a rights thing, but also a bit of a choice to make them a bit more special.” JKriv is acutely aware of the questions around authorship that surround edit culture. As an artist, songwriter and musician himself, he understands the other side of that conversation and sees respect for the people behind the source material as essential. “I’m never really intentionally trying to obscure the work of the original artist or take credit in any way,” he says. “In the end, these are just kind of fun DJ tools meant to be shared and enjoyed on the dancefloor.” That description feels telling. After decades spent accumulating musical knowledge, releasing records, touring, collaborating and helping build a label with international reach, he still talks about music in fundamentally uncomplicated terms. Does it feel right? Does it work? Is it something worth sharing? There are still larger ambitions ahead. Remarkably for someone with such an extensive catalogue, JKriv has never released a full length solo album. “That is definitely something on my radar and hope to realise in the near future.” Until then, returning to Razor N Tape’s edits series ten years later feels less like looking backwards than checking in with an idea that has followed him throughout his career. Technology changes. Labels grow. Record collections expand and tastes move with them. Yet the fundamentals JKriv describes have remained surprisingly stable. Respect the record. Trust your ears. Leave room for personality. Test it where it matters. Then let the dancefloor decide... JKriv Instagram - Spotify - Soundcloud

Patrick Topping, Rebūke And 1111 Patrick Topping has joined forces with Rebūke and 1111 for ‘People Dancing’, a heavyweight new collaboration released on 21st August via Topping’s Trick imprint. Built firmly for peak time moments, ‘People Dancing’ brings together pounding drums, warped synth work and a driving bassline, with distorted stabs and skewed acid lines giving the production an increasingly unruly edge. At the centre is 1111’s distinctive vocal, cutting through the heavier production as the track steadily builds towards an explosive release. Its message is simple, capturing the collective experience at the heart of club culture. “I’ve always believed music is meant to bring people together,” says 1111. “This record is about exactly that, people dancing without a care, connecting with each other and getting lost in the music as a collective.” The collaboration brings together three artists operating across different corners of contemporary club music. Topping remains one of the UK’s most prominent house artists, with his Trick imprint growing alongside his own international touring career into an established platform for club focused electronic music. Irish producer Rebūke brings a broader house, techno and melodic influence to the collaboration. Recent years have seen him perform at Coachella and Sphere Las Vegas, while releases through labels including Hot Creations and Afterlife have helped establish his sound across both underground clubs and major festival stages. Completing the line up is Lauren Cumberpatch, AKA 1111, whose work as a DJ, producer and vocalist has attracted support from BBC Radio 1 figures including Jaguar, Danny Howard, Sarah Story and Jeremiah Asiamah. With all three identities present, ‘People Dancing’ lands as a direct, high energy collaboration built around exactly what its title promises. Patrick Topping Instagram - Soundcloud - Facebook - Spotify Rebūke Instagram - Soundcloud - Facebook - Spotify 1111 Instagram - Soundcloud - Facebook - Spotify

Cera Khin Cera Khin has made her debut on Insomniac’s MUTATE label with ‘I Don’t Date Humans’, the first taste of a forthcoming EP expected later this year. The Barcelona based, Tunisia born producer brings her genre resistant approach to the new single, landing somewhere between hard house, acid, breaks and the darker goth influences that have become a recurring part of her musical identity. ‘I Don’t Date Humans’ centres around an unearthly, high pitched vocal hook and a playful rejection of human romance. Beneath it, rolling sub bass and bursts of breakbeat percussion collide with acid lines and hollow synth stabs, giving the track a restless structure that moves beyond a conventional hard house framework. The concept draws on Khin’s long standing fascination with vampires and films including ‘Blade’, with the producer already road testing the track during recent appearances at Monegros and Baum Festival. “I’m excited to release my first track on Insomniac’s Mutate label,” says Khin. “‘I Don’t Date Humans’ is a playful track inspired by a lifelong infatuation with vampires, developed from my love of movies such as Blade. I’ve been playing it at all my recent shows, such as Unreal at Monegros or Baum Festival, and it always goes so hard.” The release arrives during another busy period for Cera Khin. Since relocating to Berlin in 2014, she has built a reputation around sets that move freely between hard techno, bounce, acid, hardgroove, schranz, gabber, psytrance and experimental club music. Performances for Boiler Room x Glitch Festival and HÖR Berlin have accumulated hundreds of thousands of views, while appearances at Awakenings and Monegros have further expanded her international profile. Away from touring, Khin runs independent labels LazyTapes and CK777 Recordings and founded Technomentalhealth, an initiative focused on raising awareness around mental health and touring burnout within electronic music. Her arrival on MUTATE places her alongside a growing roster connected to the harder edges of contemporary club music. Launched within the wider Insomniac ecosystem in late 2025, MUTATE spans hard techno, schranz, hardgroove, hard house, hard bounce and the increasingly blurred territory between them. Cera Khin Instagram - Spotify - Soundcloud Mutate Records Instagram - TikTok

Love to be... Legendary house music brand Love to be… will embark on a major UK tour in partnership with Academy Music Group (AMG) from 7th November 2026 to 17th May 2027, bringing its three-decade legacy to O2 Academy venues in Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Manchester and London. The partnership marks a significant new chapter for the Sheffield-born institution, taking its unmistakable house music energy on the road for its biggest UK venue tour. Co-founded in 1994 by Tony Walker at the renowned Music Factory, Love to be… has spent over 30 years shaping UK club culture. From Frankie Knuckles, Masters At Work and Basement Jaxx, to Claptone, Sam Divine and Sonny Fodera, the brand has consistently united house music royalty with rising artists performing alongside the biggest names in global dance music. Its worldwide community has been built through events spanning New York, Ibiza and Sydney, syndicated radio show, record label and its 6,000-capacity flagship festival at The Stray in Harrogate. Today with Tony Walker alongside Director Marc Dennis steering the ship, Love to be… stands for heritage and innovation, bridging generations on the dancefloor with the same passion that fuelled the early years. Across the huge tour of O2 Academy venues, each city will host a carefully curated lineup of headline talent and contemporary UK faves, each promising a gathering where people come together, never leaving the dance floor. Also stopping at Hangr Sheffield (17 Oct), Arts Club Liverpool (24 Oct) and Horizon Brighton (28 Nov), clubbers joining the 2026/2027 tour can catch killer sets from Sam Divine, Belters Only, Solardo, Todd Terry, Fat Tony, Sandy Rivera, Marshall Jefferson, Groove P, Yousef, lau.ra, K-Klass, Rue Jay, Trimtone, Janika Tenn and many more to be announced. Supporting the next wave of talent is central to the tour. Love to be… has launched The Next Generation DJ Competition, giving emerging DJs the chance to win a set at their nearest O2 Academy venue. Entrants aged 18+ can submit a 30-minute house mix via the official competition page. Love to be co-founder Tony Walker said, “This is more than a competition. It's a chance to be part of a story that's been building since 1994 - and to write your own chapter in it.” With a history of unforgettable events and an unwavering commitment to house culture, Love to be… now takes its story nationwide as it continues to celebrate three decades of dance. Keep an eye on https://www.lovetobeevents.co.uk/ or on socials @lovetobeevents for all the latest ticket sign up info and lineup announcements. Love to be… Web – Instagram – TikTok – Facebook

JOKESONYOU and DJ IP For two artists who usually operate in very different corners of electronic music, JOKESONYOU and DJ IP found surprisingly natural common ground in classic hardstyle. Their new Teletech single ‘OTTF’ was born during a writers’ camp in Belgium, where conversations around mid 2000s hardstyle, Showtek’s ‘FTS’ and the renewed appetite for harder rave sounds gradually developed into a track that pushes both producers outside their usual lanes. JOKESONYOU is better known for bouncy techno and house crossover records, while DJ IP comes from a more trance-led background, but the contrast became one of the project’s biggest strengths. Although the pair had already worked together online, Belgium marked their first time properly sharing a studio. “We had been talking about old-school records and how much we wanted to capture that sound,” they explain. “When we finally got put in the same room on the last day, everything just clicked.” That existing relationship helped. Their first collaboration, ‘Ready To Fly’, had already landed through Teletech, while both had developed a strong understanding of what the other brought creatively. Joey first discovered DJ IP through his Pegassi collaboration ‘Wanna Feel’, before reaching out directly. “Jip is one of the most talented producers I have ever met,” he says. “His ability to write and layer different melodies is something that continues to blow my mind when we’re in the studio together.” For Jip, JOKESONYOU already felt like an artist with a clear identity before they met. “He came into the scene pretty suddenly with insane bangers like ‘Get Personal’ and had a distinct sound from the start,” he says. “His tracks were high energy and quickly became highly sought after.” With that foundation already established, moving into hardstyle territory never felt particularly forced. Around the time of the camp, older records were appearing more frequently in DJ sets and festival moments, giving both artists a strong point of reference. “We wanted to bring back the reverse bass, big phat lead, hype-style announcer vocals and classic hardstyle fills from the mid 2000s.” Rather than recreating that era exactly, they looked for ways to pull it into the present. The most obvious twist came through the vocals, pairing Dutch vocalist Sebastiaan van den Berg with Australian vocalist Coco Bevan. “Our initial plan was to stick to the familiar Dutch male hype announcer,” they explain. “But having Coco at the camp opened up another possibility.” That quickly became a back and forth vocal concept. “We started playing with a question-and-answer approach between the two voices, and that’s when the track really started to feel unique. It kept the nostalgic energy while giving the vocal a dynamic that we hadn’t heard much in this kind of record.” The writers’ camp environment helped those ideas move quickly. With multiple artists in the same space, experimentation could happen immediately rather than through endless file exchanges. “That’s one of the best things about a writers’ camp. You have different artists in the room, and ideas can happen naturally in the moment.” Their individual production strengths also became clearer as the record developed. Joey gravitated towards bass design and detailed finishing touches, while Jip focused more heavily on the initial idea and melodic writing. “We both love making a banger, so bouncing ideas off each other made the process much faster and helped us avoid overthinking things,” they say. “The vocal was a great example. We wrote the melody together, Joey quickly wrote the lyrics, and it all fell into place really naturally.” Even the main melody almost went somewhere completely different. Jip had originally written a darker, more introspective version, before the pair decided the final record needed something more uplifting and immediate. “We both liked that idea, but decided to push it in a more party-starting direction,” they explain. “We still like the original version though, so who knows, maybe we’ll release it someday.” That sense of collective release became central to ‘OTTF’. The track was designed specifically for the moment in a DJ set when the crowd is already fully engaged and ready to be pushed further. “It’s that moment when the crowd is fully immersed in the set, phones are in their pockets, you’ve just played a banger and everyone is ready for more,” they say. “That’s when ‘OTTF’ comes in to take the energy up another level and really unite the crowd.” Early support suggests the idea has translated beyond their existing audiences. VTSS, Marlon Hoffstadt, Pegassi, KI/KI and Johannes Schuster have all backed the track, with one moment in particular standing out. “For us, it was seeing a video of Johannes Schuster playing the track. The crowd’s reaction said everything.” Since then, ‘OTTF’ has become one of the most requested IDs arriving in their messages. The collaboration has also reinforced something both artists already suspected: stepping outside familiar territory can be far more productive than protecting a fixed identity too closely. “The track is a bit harder than what we usually make, but we’ve both picked up elements and techniques that we can carry into our other projects,” they say. “We both love a challenge and trying something new.” More importantly, neither seems particularly interested in treating the experiment as a one-off. “This wasn’t our first collaboration, and it definitely won’t be our last. We really complement each other’s production styles.” For JOKESONYOU and DJ IP, ‘OTTF’ works because it doesn’t try to disguise the distance between their usual sounds. Instead, it uses that gap as the creative starting point, reconnecting with the emotion and energy of classic hardstyle while leaving enough space for both artists to bring something of their own. JOKESONYOU https://www.instagram.com/jokesonyoumusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/2XqkFv7puGh2cP0azCZdoc https://soundcloud.com/jokessonyou DJ IP https://www.instagram.com/djipmusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/7fv38XqMnjKou11W8jG4aK https://soundcloud.com/djipmusic

Bound To Divide Bound to Divide has made his debut on Magnetic Magazine Recordings with new single ‘Cycles’, available now across digital platforms. The release marks the label’s 55th signing and introduces the Bournemouth based producer to its growing international community. Issued with original and extended mixes, ‘Cycles’ combines melodic detail with measured progression and a low end designed for the club. Born in South Africa, Bound to Divide, real name Julian van Straten, began producing electronic music in 2015 after discovering artists including deadmau5 and Skrillex. His early background in punk rock and nu metal continues to inform a sound that draws from progressive house, melodic house, techno, trance and breakbeat. He has since released music through Enhanced Colorize, Monstercat Silk, UV, Sekora and Anjunadeep Explorations, building a catalogue centred around melody, movement and detailed production. Beyond his own releases, Bound to Divide has developed a wider presence through music education, production content and Basic Waves, his sample pack company. ‘Cycles’ opens a new relationship between the artist and Magnetic Magazine Recordings while placing his progressive sound within a catalogue shaped by atmosphere and musical identity. Magnetic Magazine Recordings Instagram – SoundCloud

AndThen UK producer AndThen returns to Junior Jack’s Adesso Music with ‘Getting Down’, a disco-infused, funk-fuelled house cut primed for the height of summer. Fresh from ‘Head On’, his recent collaboration with Huxley, AndThen switches focus towards bright synths, lush strings and funkier grooves while retaining the driving percussion, commanding vocals and impactful drops at the heart of his productions. It adds another release to a catalogue spanning Nervous, Circus Recordings and Flashmob, alongside support from Jamie Jones, Paco Osuna and BLOND. For his Hot Picks, AndThen digs deeper than what is simply working in his sets right now. His ten selections trace his journey through UK club culture, from formative nights in Cardiff and the records that dominated the 2000s to the artists and sounds that pulled him back towards music and eventually shaped his own productions. “These ten records take me right back through everything that got me into this. Some of them are tied to specific nights and rooms, others are just tracks I’ve never stopped needing to hear. Put together, they’re pretty much the blueprint for what I do now.” A’Studio, Polina – SOS (Skylark Remix – Nic Fanciulli Extended Edit) “I loved Skylark and all of Nic Fanciulli’s early productions under that alias. He used to play for Cool House in Cardiff, where a lot of us who lived there at the time cut our teeth on the dancefloor and playing back rooms for them. This remix takes me right back to that scene.” Phil Kieran – Vitalian House “I ran a night with mates in the 2000s called Superchunk, and Phil played our very first one and a few after that. This is an amazing record, and it got absolutely rinsed at nights like Bugged Out at Cream around that time.” Sable Sheep – Upon Burning Skies “I’d taken some time away from music for a couple of years, and when I came back Moon Harbour and that German sound, Nick Curly and that whole world, was really starting to get bigger. The drums and the groove on this track are what pulled me back in.” Cajmere – The Percolator “Need I say more?” Danny Tenaglia – Elements “I’ve seen Danny play a few times, and it’s an experience in itself. This track sums up that sound from back then, and I always build a drum element into my own tracks now. With that Latin influence being big again, it really suits my sound.” Rafa Barrios – Conga “A more modern one, but I love all of Rafa’s tracks and this one sums them all up for me. His music has influenced me hugely.” Miane – Nanai “If you heard my early stuff, you’d hear Miane’s influence everywhere. This EP is a big part of that.” Andrea Oliva – Rainers “This track is banging. The drums on it are something else, and honestly everything Andrea Oliva makes is gold.” AndThen – Changes [Circus Recordings] “I’m blowing my own smoke a bit here, but I heard this again the other day and it reminded me why I do what I do. Always thanks to Yousef for supporting my early days.” X-Press 2 – Smoke Machine “Back to finish on a classic. This one reminds me of those early clubbing days that influenced me so much.” Taken together, AndThen’s selections map out the sounds and experiences behind his own approach to house music. From Cardiff club nights and formative UK dancefloor memories to rolling German grooves, Latin percussion and contemporary tech house, each has left its mark. On ‘Getting Down’, those influences meet a brighter disco and funk streak as AndThen opens another chapter on Adesso Music. AndThen Instagram - Soundcloud - Facebook - Spotify

Modern Funktion London underground house brand Modern Funktion will make its Newcastle debut this October, bringing its five-year anniversary celebrations to NX with a line-up featuring Saoirse, Boss Priester, Job de Jong, Jamback, Mya and Izzy. Taking place on Friday 16th October, the event forms part of an extensive anniversary run for the brand, which is also heading to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Manchester and Ibiza as it marks five years of parties. Founded by Phill De Janeiro and Benji King, Modern Funktion has grown from its London roots through a focus on underground house, combining established selectors with emerging talent and building a community around its events. Leading the Newcastle line-up is Irish DJ and producer Saoirse, whose genre-spanning approach has established her as a respected presence across the international underground circuit. Dutch producer Boss Priester also joins the bill following releases on labels including X-Kalay, Dungeon Meat, Locus and Ba Dum Tish, alongside fellow Dutch selector Job de Jong and rising house name Jamback. Modern Funktion residents Mya and Izzy complete the line-up, bringing two of the artists closely connected to the party's musical identity to Newcastle for its first outing in the city. An NX Newcastle spokesperson said: “Modern Funktion has built a fantastic reputation within underground house music over the last five years and we're delighted they're bringing their anniversary celebration to Newcastle for the first time. “The line-up speaks for itself, with internationally respected artists alongside some of the most exciting names on the underground circuit. It's exactly the kind of forward-thinking electronic event we're passionate about bringing to NX, and we're looking forward to introducing the Modern Funktion experience to audiences across the North East.” The Newcastle date adds another city to Modern Funktion's expanding programme as the independent party celebrates its biggest year to date and takes its sound beyond its London home. Modern Funktion – Five Years takes place at NX Newcastle on Friday 16th October 2026, running from 9pm until 4am. Tickets start from £17.50 plus booking fee.

Balaphonic Balaphonic has always offered Danny Ward a different kind of freedom. Across more than three decades in music, the Manchester producer, drummer, percussionist and DJ has moved through house, jazz, dub, techno, hip hop and downtempo sounds under projects including Moodymanc and Dubble D, but Balaphonic has gradually become one of his most personal outlets. That continues with Organic Matters, his latest release on NuNorthern Soul and the follow-up to Resolution Revolutions. Across six tracks, Ward brings live percussion, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban influence, Balearic warmth and collaboration into a record that feels deliberately unconcerned with fitting into one particular role. “Of course I’m a drummer and percussionist first and foremost, and Balaphonic definitely puts that at the forefront when it comes to the writing process,” he explains. “But particularly over the last two records, it’s not really been about ‘fitting in’ to a specific sound or genre. I’ve just followed my heart in exploring tempos and rhythms that I might not have on records in the past.” The response to Resolution Revolutions gave Ward more confidence to push that philosophy further. Where its predecessor grew organically from music accumulated through lockdown, Organic Matters was conceived as a complete body of work from the beginning. “This record is much more conceptual from the get-go,” he says. “All the tracks were conceived and written for it from the start. It’s part of the meaning of the title.” That sense of intention is balanced by a deliberately human approach to rhythm. Ward has spent years refining the relationship between live drumming and electronic precision, initially recording himself before slicing and resequencing performances to retain swing while maintaining control. “Computing and software have opened up so many more possibilities,” he explains. “I can now record extended multitrack takes and just tidy up where necessary whilst keeping the dynamics and movement of performance.” On Organic Matters, he consciously leaned even further into that looseness. “I’m hoping that the humanity of it all shines through without distracting from the grooves.” Perhaps the clearest example arrives with ‘Switch’, a reworking of Ward’s 2005 composition featuring Brazilian jazz icon Flora Purim alongside her daughter Diana Moreira Booker. Revisiting the original multitracks gave him the opportunity to hear the performances completely differently. “When I got the full multitracks back it was just mind-blowing,” he recalls. “Flora had apparently been nervous that I might be disappointed it wasn’t all her, but nothing could’ve been further from the truth. She was overjoyed because they hadn’t appeared on a record together before.” Rather than forcing those vocals into another conventional arrangement, Ward found himself hearing them naturally in 7/4. “The whole approach with Organic Matters was to really listen to the artists and instruments involved and let that inform the musical direction rather than any preconceived ideas of form or function.” Despite the unusual time signature, technical complexity was never the goal. “I have to be able to sing a groove, whatever it might be,” he says. “If I’m connected in that way, it becomes something physical and emotional rather than just an exercise in counting.” That philosophy reflects a broader shift in his musicianship. After years spent practising drums for up to eight hours a day, Ward increasingly values restraint over displaying technique. “The more time I’ve spent writing, recording and engineering music, the more I’ve realised the value of simplicity. You can describe a simple concept beautifully with complex language, but if the message is lost, you’ve lost the meaning.” Collaboration became another defining part of the record. Robin Dewhurst, Joe Botham and Katya Gabeli each brought distinct musical ideas, and Ward deliberately allowed those contributions to redirect the tracks rather than moulding them into an existing template. Joe Botham’s guitar work on ‘Balaventurers’, for example, unexpectedly led Ward towards singing. “I had no intention of singing on this record, but I just heard the melodies over Joe’s groove,” he says. “It ended with me in a trance-like state singing late into the night creating the choir.” Katya Gabeli’s strings pushed him somewhere equally unexpected. “Her initial concept was to do something quite electronic around her parts, but the raw sound and emotion of the strings inspired me in the opposite direction. I could never have imagined coming up with anything like that track otherwise.” Ward’s relationship with Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music stretches back to his teenage years, when hearing Flora Purim on ‘500 Miles High’ opened an entirely new musical world. That discovery led through records, percussion workshops and friendships towards a fascination that continues decades later. “I’m still learning and discovering all the time,” he says. “But I’m also hyper-aware that ultimately I’m a scally jazz drummer and raver from Manchester.” Rather than attempting to recreate traditions that are not his own, he sees Balaphonic as a distinctly personal response to them. “The most respectful thing I can do is shine a light on what I love through a lens that is distinctly Mancunian. To do otherwise would feel insincere or contrived.” That openness stretches across Ward’s entire catalogue. Whether house, dub, jazz or techno, he sees rhythm as the common language connecting everything. “It’s about an absolute passion for drums, rhythm and dancing, and for the fact that it’s all connected. In fact, we are all connected through these things.” For Ward, that makes music cultural and political as much as creative. “It’s not primarily about making money or being popular for popularity’s sake. It’s honest and real. Essentially, for me, they are all forms of folk music.” Even after more than thirty years, there is little sense that the exploration is slowing. “Music is an ever-expanding universe to me,” he says. “The more I discover, the less I know. It’s an eternal quest.” That curiosity feels like the defining thread running through Organic Matters. Balaphonic may have become one of Danny Ward’s most personal projects, but its strength comes from remaining open to other musicians, cultures, rhythms and unexpected turns. Rather than arriving at a fixed destination, the record sounds like another stage in a musical conversation he has no intention of finishing. Balaphonic https://www.facebook.com/balaphonic https://www.instagram.com/balaphonic open.spotify.com/artist/0V7ZsYNU8c2BqFlufRIOkK

Padre Guilherme Portuguese priest and electronic artist Padre Guilherme reached another major career milestone this summer, becoming the first Portuguese artist to perform on the Main Stage at Romania’s UNTOLD Festival. Guilherme was handed the closing set on the festival’s expanded Main Stage, bringing his distinctive combination of electronic music, spirituality and Portuguese culture to one of the largest audiences of his career. The performance went beyond a conventional festival set. Messages centred around unity, peace and hope appeared throughout, including a message from Pope Leo XIV and a hymn connected to Iuliu Hossu, the former Greek Catholic bishop of Cluj-Gherla who helped protect Jews during World War II and was later persecuted by Romania’s communist regime. Guilherme also embraced his host country with a remix of Ionuț Cercel’s ‘Made In Romania’, drawing a huge response from the Romanian crowd. Portuguese musical heritage played an equally important role in the performance, with Guilherme showcasing material from his forthcoming ‘Fado’ EP, set for release on 4th September through his Lux Aeterna Records imprint. The project explores the meeting point between traditional Portuguese fado and melodic techno. ‘Nada Te Perturbe’, created with Diego Miranda, features fado singer Marta Alves and Portuguese guitarist Rui Poço, transforming a centuries-old poem by Saint Teresa of Ávila into an electronic production centred around inner peace and faith. ‘Uma Casa Portuguesa’ features Portuguese vocalist Rita Guerra, reimagining one of the country’s best-known fado songs through synthesizers and heavier melodic techno rhythms while retaining its themes of home, hospitality and Portuguese identity. The third track, ‘30 Moedas de Prata’, again brings together Guilherme, Diego Miranda, Marta Alves and Rui Poço. Based around a poem written by Guilherme himself, the production uses the biblical story of Judas and the 30 pieces of silver to explore materialism, friendship, dignity and the value placed on human relationships. The UNTOLD appearance continues a significant period of international growth for Padre Guilherme, whose unusual position between faith and electronic music has taken him onto increasingly prominent festival stages across Europe. Following his landmark Main Stage performance in Romania, the forthcoming ‘Fado’ EP will place his Portuguese roots firmly at the centre of his next musical chapter. ‘Fado’ is released on 4th September via Lux Aeterna Records. Padre Guilherme Instagram | Facebook | beepdMusic | Spotify | SoundCloud | YouTube

Culoe De Song South African house figure Culoe De Song makes his Crosstown Rebels debut with ‘Moonhound’, a new three track EP landing on 14th August. The release brings his distinctive approach to African electronic music into the orbit of Damian Lazarus’ label, pairing organic percussion and atmospheric detail with stripped back, hypnotic grooves. Opening with the title track, ‘Moonhound’ takes its time to develop. Brooding rhythms provide the foundation as organic textures, drifting details and soft synth lines gradually emerge around them. The arrangement remains deliberately restrained, creating movement through subtle changes rather than relying on dramatic peaks. ‘The Spiker’ brings a more immediate rhythmic pull. A punchy bassline drives the track forward while animalistic vocal calls and chants cut through crisp percussion. As it develops, the groove opens into panning melodic elements that give its closing section a lighter, more expansive feel. French house mainstay Manoo then delivers two interpretations of ‘The Spiker’. His ‘Abstrakt Remix’ draws out the track’s hypnotic qualities, stretching its core ideas into a slow building rework designed to set the tone earlier in the night. A digital only ‘Club Remix’ takes the opposite approach, bringing echoing synths and syncopated rhythms to the foreground for a more direct, heads down dancefloor version. ‘Moonhound’ marks another significant addition to a Culoe De Song catalogue stretching back to his breakthrough in 2008. Across more than 15 years, the South African artist has released through Innervisions, Mule Musiq and his own De Song Music while appearing alongside Black Coffee, Seth Troxler, Louie Vega, Carl Craig and Âme. He also shares a longstanding connection with Crosstown Rebels founder Damian Lazarus, making his first release for the label feel like a natural next step after years of their paths crossing across the international house circuit. Culoe De Song Instagram / Soundcloud / Spotify Manoo Instagram / Soundcloud / Spotify Crosstown Rebels Instagram / SoundCloud