Every week, Billboard Dance gives you a look at the newest tracks you need to know about for the dancefloor days and nights to come. These are the five recently released tracks keeping the beat going as we ease back into the workweek.
LP Giobbi Feat. Sofi Tukker, “If Love Is a Skill”
The Artist: Real life friends LP Giobbi and Sophie Hawley Weld, of Sofi Tukker.
The Label: Counter Records
The Spiel: The newest single from LP Giobbi’s forthcoming debut album Light Places, “If Love Is a Skill” delivers a nuanced and subtle take on romance, a topic often treated with cringey overtness in dance music. Built from a looped beat, Giobbi’s delicate piano playing, equally delicate vocals from Hawley Weld and Michael Cheever on drum machine, the song unfurls languidly, and serves as a vibey counterpart to it’s harder, more club-focused and percussion heavy B-side, “Georgia.”
The Artist Says: “I’m the kind of artist that has to grind tooth and nail to get something good. Who sits with a loop throwing things in and out until finally (and sometimes never) it starts working” says Giobbi. “Watching Sophie work is a whole other experience. The music comes through her and she is so grounded and ready to catch it and be its conduit that it flows with such raw intensity catapulting through her.”
The Vibe: Pure seduction, but like, the kind that leads to real and long-lasting romance.
Yunè Pinku, “Sports”
The Artist: 19-year-old London-based Malaysian-Irish producer/singer/songwriter Yunè Pinku.
The Label: Platoon
The Spiel: Pinku’s considerable buzz is given additional weight with her latest single, “Sports,” which bends IDM and indie-pop into a dreamy, breezily cool earworm with staying power. The track is the latest single from Pinku’s forthcoming BABYLON IX EP, coming April 28k, with her U.S. debut live shows happening this June in Los Angeles.
The Artist Says: “‘Sports’ is based loosely on an angry version of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’ — mainly just the idea of someone putting a TV screen before the people they care about and their own life. I envisioned a sort of Wall-E-esque future: people glued to the chair with a TV guide vibe.”
The Vibe: Stoned inside a kaleidoscope.
J. Worra & Shift K3Y, “All The Girls”
The Artist: Denver-based fav J. Worra in collaboration with London’s Shift K3Y.
The Label: Ultra Records
The Spiel: This straightforward rager encourages “all the girls in the place with glitter on your face” and “all the boys in the back who are busy sendin’ racks” to engage in such activities as shaking their asses and moving their waists. Tell me how you could hear this one and not.
The Vibe: Literally just frenzied ass-shaking.
RÜFÜS DU SOL, “Something In The Way”
The Artist: RÜFÜS DU SOL
The Label: Rose Avenue Records
The Spiel: As part of tastemaking Aussie radio station triple j’s cover series, the trio do their thing with Nirvana‘s “Something In The Way” from the band’s 1991 masterpiece, Nevermind. The guys take the original and RÜFÜS DU SOL all over it, upping the BPM and adding layers of percussion, keyboard, synth and a string section — creating a richness and different sort of intensity from the already intense original.
The Vibe: Still fairly harrowing, but also now quite vibey.
Jai Wolf Feat. Evalyn, “Want It All”
The Artist: Bangladeshi-American artist Jai Wolf, with L.A.-based singer Evalyn.
The Label: Mom + Pop
The Spiel: Jai Wolf returns with his first new single in three years, the effervescent, pop adjacent “Want It All.” The track, which climaxes with a sax solo, comes before Jai Wolf’s Coachella performance in April.
The Artist Says: “This era feels like a true rebirth by pushing my sound into new territories while still feeling grounded in my usual sonic palette,” says Jai Wolf. “While a lot of electronic music is defined by the production, I really wanted to focus on lyrics and songwriting for the new music. It’s been cathartic putting my feelings to paper and then extrapolating them even further through interpretative dance for the music video.”
The Vibe: As polished and emotive as the aforementioned music video, which features elegant choreography and segments made with A.I.
