Roundup, April #3

From Niki Nair experimenting with pop to Dorian Electra channelling Limp Bizkit, these are the tracks you need to hear this week. Listen to our selections below.  

Blawan – Toast

Returning to XL Recordings, the first single from Blawan’s upcoming Dismantled Into Juice EP gives us a taste of the sort of experimental club and underground techno sounds the producer will explore on the project. The sticky Toast combines Blawan’s two sides; the austere techno forger and impish techno agitator to create something that is alarmingly stylish and satisfyingly complex. 

Nikki Nair – Can’t Wait

Nikki Nair making pop music was an unlikely outcome, but on new single Can’t Wait, the producer looks beyond the scope of his signature hybridised electronica to mellow blues-pop. Nair sings across the track for the first time in his discography, his voice warped into a human-machine hybrid. Can’t Wait, which whines about the 9-5 rat race, should be taken with a dose of salt, and those looking for more of a dance focussed experience can look toward + Peder Mannefelt’s energetic remix of the track. 

Chris Lake & Aluna – Beggin’

Aluna’s sylph-like pop vocals prove a perfect match for Chris Lake’s sumptuous tech-house, which takes a 2010’s direction here replete with strategically placed hoovers and mariachi-like build-ups. Lake utilises an 808 kick as his bass, and the results are monstrously propulsive. This one is sizzling and summer ready, if not a touch too familiar. 

Dorian Electra – Freak Mode

Hyperpop’s enfant terrible returns with a typically hyperactive single that flits between nu-metal, dubstep, and happy hardcore. Freak Mode introduces a seething aggression to the Electra formula though, which makes Freak Mode bristle with a sort of electrifying angst without sacrificing Electra’s impish humour.