This 20-year-old is a one man show. Singing, songwriting, and producing on his own to create some serious tracks. Hit single “Care” is what initially drew me in (it currently has 3,714,944 plays on Spotify). The song starts out telling a story (as most do), his voice quivers on each pop note singing “you don’t even care for me anymore…I don’t even care for you anymore”. The drop at the chorus slams in, shaking electronics to their core. I fell in love with the contrast of sounds from verse to chorus, but somehow, they continue to mesh together in such a cool way.
His collaboration with fellow EDMsters’ Cheat Codes, “Stay With You” is another lyrically driven track, something Cade seems to have made his trademark so far. “Where We Left” is his most recent single. Try not to get addicted…
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“R U MINE (SteLouse Remix)” is a lyrically driven dance track. The vocals are feminine and captivating. Rozes sings, “I’m terrified to tell you what’s on my mind, but it eats me up, there’s a reason why I keep it all inside.” “MINE” couldn’t be more beautiful especially the heavenly chorus, pounding beat and don’t forget that DROP. Thick bass plague’s this song in the most appealing way. Verses almost serve as hymns to a story about confusion and insecurity in a relationship. Pleading vocals truly make this song as epic as it is. It’s becoming more and more clear that lyrically driven dance tunes make a serious mark in the heads of music fans.
“What Do You Mean?” solidifies Justin Bieber’s cross into the EDM/Dance world. “Where Are U Now” served as a preview of what he’s trying to do with this next album. “Mean” keeps a soft texture with Bieber’s smooth baby voice singing, “Better make up your mind, what do you mean?” Although the lyrics are back and forth expressing a confusing relationship, the whistling back tones make you bop your head along as if it’s a happy-go-lucky fun anthem. This is without a doubt the right direction for Bieber. He keeps pop-y lyrics and unique generated sounds. A ticking clock is heard throughout the song resembling a lack of patience or time left in the relationship. I think his recent collab with Diplo & Skrillex brought out the best in him, sparking more creative energy for substantial material. I’m excited to hear more of what’s to come.
Zedd’s second full-length album titled True Colors could be his most emotional yet. Almost every song features simple lyrics and of course the dance drop we’re all waiting for. Zedd pulls in help from vets like Selena Gomez and newcomers like Echosmith and Troye Sivan. That’s the cool thing about Zedd, he’s always willing to let other people shine on his music, whether they have a million fans or a couple hundred. He cares about the final product and not the popularity status. Zedd has perfected his own style as something I like to call Dalectropop. A fancy mixture of dance, electronic, and pop.
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Songs like: “Bumble Bee” and “Addicted to a Memory” follow the harder side of dance music, while “Daisy”, “Illusion”, “I Want You To Know”, and “Straight Into the Fire” focus on storybook lyrics, impeccable vocals, and cohesive electro beats. The best thing about this album is the beauty heard in every song. True Colors is exactly what the dance world needed; to slow down a little bit and appreciate the power of dance/electronic music. It doesn’t have to all be “shake your ass and fist pump”, it can tell stories and provoke true emotions.
Zedd recently told Billboard magazine, “I’m just an album artist. There are singles artists and there are album artists. I don’t think i’m the guy to just be able to put out a song and be fully satisfied with that. Because that puts you so much more into a box.” Sounds like the words of a true artist, my friends. True Colors is meant to be consumed and heard as a whole. Every song has its own strength and weight to the album. A lot of people stereotype DJ’s thinking all they do is play on computers when really they are creating sounds and insane hooks that we normal people could never replicate. Back in December of last year, Zedd released a half hour documentary that explains his success with Clarity and gives more of a closer look into his life. Please watch:
Proof that this album is a continuous vat of emotion and beauty is heard on the final two songs titled “Daisy” and “Illusion”. The lyrics in “Daisy” set the scene for “Illusion”. “Daisy, always climbing up the same tree, finding love in all the wrong scenes, Daisy, you got me” are the words sung out of Julia Michaels mouth (also lends her vocals to “Straight Into the Fire”). This song illustrates the struggle of not knowing a good thing when its right in front of you. The innocence in Michaels’ voice helps the songs message of uncertainty and confusion with the concept of true love. Near the end of the song, piano chords start to play as the intro to the closing track “Illusion”.
This song is almost painfully gorgeous as Sydney Sierota, lead singer of Echosmith, sings, “It feels like the fairytale’s over, I really wanted these pages to begin, with once upon a time, like all those lullabies.” This is the song that makes you cry but also has the power to save you. The hook is “This love is your illusion”, which becomes a mantra you end up hearing yourself singing over and over in your head as Zedd takes over and creates an electronic symphony epically matching the vibe of the song. “Illusion” is absolute magic.
Billboard Magazine named them the Best Dance Music Moment at Coachella this year while dance music website Dancing Astronaut named their set the Best Debut of the Festival. This duo is known as Galantis and they are going to dance their way into your hearts (or ears?) very soon. Made up of Christian Karlsson, aka Bloodshy, and Linus Eklöw, aka Style of Eye. These two are reinventing dance music and bringing diversity to each song they create. Both have devoted their careers to dance music and have now teamed together to form Galantis. Their full-length debut album is titled Pharmacy and will be available June 8.
At first listen, you become addicted to these guys. Everything they are producing is of the highest quality. They merge all the popular elements of dance music with futuristic vocals and sounds we’ve never heard before. Catchy hooks, and deep house drops make each song radio ready for the summer of GALANTIS. As I noticed they were releasing a new song every week in preparation for their debut album, I realized I was buying every single one…my workout playlist is forever grateful. These two create the type of music that is slightly hypnotizing yet consumingly emotional, it’s just that good.
“Runaway (U & I)” was the first song I heard by this duo. Using childlike vocals and heavy electronic repetition, I was immediately hooked. It feels futuristic yet the lyrics are so simplistic and touching; “I wanna runaway, anywhere out this place, just you and I.” Most dance songs can get old after a while, but Galantis never bores you, not once. The lyrics match the thematic element of the background sounds. It was also the #9 Most Shazamed Song at Coachella 2015.
“You” is a more recent single that caught my attention. Once again, using high-pitched anthemic vocals they pull you in as you patiently wait for what’s bound to be an epic drop. But that depends on what version you listen to. The original “You” is a lot lighter in terms of electronic beats than the remixes by Tiesto and so forth. You feel as though your hearing piano chords that are laced with computer touches. The original “You” sounds more pop/radio ready than the remixes do. The cool thing about Galantis is that they have so many remixes for this song. Each mix can give you a completely different vibe if you listen close enough, it’s quite fascinating actually.
On the other hand, my new favorite is “Peanut Butter Jelly”. Taking a vintage spin back in time, this song sounds like something you would hear on the Just Dance video game. Grab your dusty bell bottoms and swing your hips on the dance floor, maybe slip on some roller skates? It’s just an overall “feel good” song that revolves around the saying “spin it like peanut butter jelly.” Fun, right??
Christian and Linus talked to Brobible.com back in December about their music. “We give each song a treatment like it is our last song that we will ever write. We don’t do any fillers, we try to give all full attention both visually, and production and how its being released,” said Linus. When asked what they appreciate most about deep-house music, they said plain and simply, “the groove”. Galantis describe their music saying, “We bring something new to the table. We’ve got a solid toolbox that we use combining a lot of different music and it turned into something that’s missing. That’s why we wanted to do it, so yeah.”
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