Category: EDM

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Danny Darko is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, electronic music artist, DJ and talent scout, who has developed a reputation for writing and recording across a wide range of EDM styles and subgenres including house, progressive, dubstep and others.  And if you add the fact that Darko has received support and praise from an impressive array of EDM heavyweights including Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk, Pete Tong, Judge Jules, Gareth Enery and Chuckie for his restlessly genre blurring sound, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that the multi-instrumetnalist, electronic music artist, producer, talent scout and DJ has released more than 30 Top 50 releases on Beatport Genre Charts. Along with that, his YouTube channel recently surpassed 2 million views and he’s known for producing Starchaser’s UK chart topping single “Love Will Set You Free.”

Danny Darko’s latest single “Tainted Emotions” is a collaboration with up-and-coming, Toronto, ON-based singer/songwriter and producer Alisha Jade, who has begun to develop a reputation for crafting material that defied genre boundaries while being distinctly soulful. As for the single, Darko pairs a hyper modern yet dramatic production featuring stuttering drum programming and boom bap-like beats, moody and swirling electronics, twinkling keys, and cacasding layers of undulating and shimmering synths with the up-and-coming Canadian’s sultry and self-assured vocals. While clearly being radio-friendly yet moody electro pop, the song subtly nods at the work of Young Ejecta, Octo Octa and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few years, you have most likely come across a handful of posts on Simon Green, a Brighton, UK-born, Los Angeles, CA-based DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic music artist, who has written, recorded and performed under the moniker of Bonobo. Interestingly, Green had long been considered part of a movement of producers, multi-instrumentalists and electronic music artists, who specialized in a sleek, hyper-modern and downtempo-leaning electronic music that included  Four Tet, Jon Hopkins, Caribou and others; however, with the release of his critically applauded 2013 release The North Borders Green revealed a decided change in his compositional approach in which he frequently paired electronic production with lush and stunning arrangements featuring organic instrumentation — wth the end result being a sound that possessed a cinematic quality.

The North Borders was also part of a larger, growing trend among many electronic music artists and producers to not only create a much more evocative and nuanced sound but an attempt to remind listeners, fans and critics that there was actual musicality within their productions besides a person haphazardly tapping away at a laptop or turning buttons and dials on a sampler or a processor.

Since the release of The North Borders, Green has been both extremely busy and rather prolific — he released the Flashlight EP at the end of 2014 while during what would turn out to be a two year period of intense touring across the globe. Green somehow managed to find the time to write and recored the material off his sixth full-length album Migration, which was released earlier this year. Naturally, with an album titled Migration, the material thematically focused on migration. As Green remarked in press notes “It’’s interesting how one person will take an influence from one part of the world and move with that influence and effect another part of the world. Over time, the identities of places evolve.” And as a result, the material seemed to possesses a transitory nature — some of the material, including album single “Kerala,” was initially composed while on the road and then was road-tested and revised during Stateside DJ sets. Adding to the album’s transitory nature, it featured guest spots from a number of artists, who have emigrated at some point themselves, including Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based vocalist Michael Milosh of Los Angeles-based indie pop act Rhye, who recorded his vocal tracks while in Berlin, Germany; Australian-born, Brooklyn-based global, indie pop sensation Nick Murphy, formerly known as Chet Faker, who bonded with the British producer over a shared love of disco; Florida-born, Los Angeles-based Nicole Miglis of Los Angeles-based act Hundred Waters; and the New York-based Moroccan collective Innov Gnawa among others. Adding to the album’s transitory nature, Green also employs the use of found sounds that include a Hong Kong elevator, rainfall in Seattle, an Atlanta-based tumble dryer and a New Orleans fan boat engine.

After completing successful tours across both the European Union and North America to support Migration, Green announced the release of a 3 song EP/single package that features album single “Bambro Koyo Ganda,” an analog version of “Bambro Koyo Ganda” that finds Green stripping the song’s production and sound to the bone — retaining a propulsive, undulating pulse and Moroccan-born, New York-based band Innov Gnawa’s vocals and handclap-led percussion, highlighting the hypnotic groove and vocals. EP closing track “Samurai” was written and recorded during the Migration sessions, and consists of a stuttering vocal sample floating over a sinuous production featuring shuffling drum programming and shimmering, subtly arpeggio synth and wobbling low end. And much like the material from the recording sessions it came from, the song should remind listeners of how much Green’s work draws from classic house and soul, while being paradoxically sensual, intimate and yet cinematic.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay El Dusty Teams Up with Jah Fabio and Toy Selectah on a Reggae-Tinged Take on His Imitable Sound

So if you had been frequenting this between 2016 and early this year, you’ve likely been made familiar with the Corpus Christi, TX-based producer, DJ and electronic music artist, Horacio Olivera, best known as El Dusty. And over that 13-15 month or so period, Olivera not only quickly became a JOVM mainstay but he also further cemented his reputation as a pioneer of a revolutionary, new sub-genre that he’s dubbed “nu-cumbia,” a sub-genre, which meshes contemporary electronic music production, hip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass and house music with enormous tweeter and woofer rocking beats and chopped up samples of classic and beloved cumbia songs creating a swaggering, sleek, hyper-modern, club-banging take on Latin music that has resulted in a Latin Grammy nod.
Olivera like most contemporary, hip-hop-inspired producers has spent countless hours digging in the crates — both real and virtual — for cumbia tracks released by Colombian record label Discos Fuentes during the 60s and 70s, including one of the best known and best-loved cumbia records to date, Andres Landeros’ “Canto Negro,” which serves as the main sample and inspiration for his latest single “Kanto Negro,” a collaboration with Mexican-based Reggae/Roots singer Jah Fabio contributing rhymes and Toy Selectah contributing some additional arrangements. And as Olivera explains ““This sample has been done countless times but I just felt that adding a vocalist would really take it over the top” “ liked the title of the original song so I wanted to keep it the same. I dig the dark vibes!” In fact, while retaining portions of the original’s instrumentation and vocal for the book, El Dusty and Toy Selectah add thumping and staccato like drum programming and an enormous synth drop and although the single will further cement his reputation for crafting club-banging cumbia-influenced EDM — or perhaps EDM influenced cumbia? — the single finds El Dusty adding a global element to his crowd pleasing sound and approach.

Produced by the Much Fresco production crew, the recently released music video for “Kanto Negro” was filmed while El Dusty was at this year’s Electric Daisy Carnival Mexico and features the renowned Texan producer performing with Jah Fabio at Cultura Roots with some footage of daily life in Mexico City.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Playful Visuals and Soulful Sounds of French Electronic Music Producer and Artist FKJ

Vincent Fenton is a self-taught, Paris, France-based producer, multi-instrumentalist, electronic music artist and sound engineer, best known in electronic music circles as French Kiwi Juice — or FKJ. For Fenton, music has always been a part of his life somehow; but he can trace the origins of his musical career to when he started to write and compose songs at 13 and recorded his first track at 14 in his uncle’s studio. And with the release of his debut EP, 2013’s Time For A Change and its follow up EP, 2014’s Take Off, found the French producer, electronic music artist, multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer establishing himself in a contemporary electronic music scene that includes M83, Uppermost and others while developing an international profile with tours in Asia, North America, the rest of the EU and Australia; however, unlike his contemporaries Fenton has described his sound as being influenced by jazz and soul, while equally drawing from hip-hop and funk in a rather sophisticated and smooth fashion.

Interestingly, Fenton’s highly-anticipated self-titled FKJ full-length debut was released yesterday and the album’s latest single “Skyline” is a swaggering dance floor friendly yet soulful track that nods at Jamiroquai, The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method as Fenton pairs a slick and silky smooth production consisting of cosmic bursts of twinkling arpeggio keyboard, whirring and wheezing electronics, shuffling drum programming and a sinuous bass line paired with Fenton’s ethereal and dreamy falsetto and an equally slick yet understated hook.

The recently released accompanying video features a relatively simple concept — Fenton leading a small group of bicyclists, riding the sort of bikes Pee Wee Herman rode in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure through an extremely European and gothic-looking forest at sunrise and dusk with Fenton singing the song as he’s riding with his crew.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last month, you may have come across a post on Rohan Newman,  a Melbourne, Australia-based producer and electronic music artist, best known in electronic music circles as Roland Tings. Back in 2012, while as a virtual unknown, the Australian producer and electronic music artist caught the attention of enowned Los Angeles, CA-based electronic dance music label, 100% Silk Records, who released his debut EP.  And unsurprisingly, thanks to the cosign from the renowned Southern California-based label and the international attention he received, Newman quickly became one of Melbourne’s go-to producers and DJs, performing at some of the city’s most raucous house parties and basement jams. With an even larger profile, Newman quickly signed to renowned Norwegian electronic music label Internasjonal, founded by alt-disco, electronic music star Prins Thomas, and the label released Newman’s 2015 full-length debut, an album that Triple J named their Feature Album of the year.

Each Moment a Diamond, Newman’s soon-to-released sophomore Roland Tings album reveals a change in songwriting approach, with Newman renting a studio located in Melbourne’s industrial backstreets and treating the songwriting and production process as a 9-5 job, in which Newman developed a routine deliberately based around a repetitive and dependable schedule: every morning during the writing and recording of the album, Newman ate the same breakfast, rode his bike along the same route to the studio and hung up with the same friends at familiar places.  “Being at the studio all day every day was psychologically demanding. For each good idea I had, there were maybe 30 bad ones, which is hard to face when you look back on months of work and realize the majority of the material will never make the record. Eventually though I was able to see each ‘failure’ as a crucial contribution to overall whole,”Newman reflected in press notes.  “The routine also allowed me to grasp good ideas when they surfaced -– when something was different, when something sounded great, I quickly noticed and was able to follow each thread. Another valuable realization from this process was knowing when to stop, when to let go of an idea, power down the studio, get on my bike and head home.” Certainly, when you deal in a creative world, some of the lessons Newman learned while writing could be useful. . .

“Higher Ground” the first single off  Each Moment a Diamond was a collaboration feating the breathy and sultry vocals of Nylo  in a percussive, Zonoscope-era Cut Copy inspired house music track, featuring shimmering arpeggio synths, thumping beats, an rousing and soaring hook, and about 3/4s of the way through some Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar are added in a slickly produced song that focuses on the urgently swooning passion of first love.  The album’s second and latest single “Garden Piano” sonically owes a debt to classic, Larry Levan-era house music and Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves, as the song is based around a slick production featuring thumping yet highly processed processed beats and shuffling drum and industrial cling and clatter are paired with twinkling, arpeggio synths and warm, funky blasts of Nile Rodgers-like guitar. And much like the preceding single, “Garden Piano” is a certified club-banger of a song that manages to possess a deliberate yet soulful feel.

Newman will be embarking on a extensive North American tour to support his newest album, opening for Warp Records’ stalwart Clark and Ghostly Records’ Com Truise and that tour will include a May 25 stop at Warsaw. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.

Tour Dates

 

May 1 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room @ The Observatory

May 2 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst Atrium
May 4 – Portland, OR – Holocene

May 5 – Vancouver, BC – Imperial

May 6 – Seattle, WA – Neumos

May 7 – Eugene, OR – Wow Hall

May 9 – San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine

May 10 – Santa Barbara, CA – Soho Music Club

May 11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater

May 12 – San Diego, CA – The Belly Up

May 13 – Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf

May 14 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater

May 16 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird

May 17 – Nashville, TN – Exit In

May 19 – Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall

May 20 – Boston, MA – Together Boston Music & Arts Festival

May 21 – Hamden, CT – The Ballroom

May 23 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar

May 24 – Philadelphia, PA – Coda

May 25 – Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw

May 26 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount

May 27 – Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground

May 28 – Detroit, MI – Ghostly Intl/Warp Movement Afterparty @ The Shelter

May 30 – Pittsburgh, PA – Rex Theater

June 1 – Indianapolis, IN – The Hi-Fi

June 2 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop

June 3 – Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall

June 4 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Café

June 5 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown

June 6 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar

June 7 – Dallas, TX – Trees

June 8 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall

June 9 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk

June 10 – Mexico City, MX – Sala Corona

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Watch the Paris Symphonic Orchestra’s Instrumental Rendition of Uppermost’s “Constellation”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past three or four months, you’ve come across a handful of posts featuring the Paris, France-based electronic music producer and electronic music artist Behad Netjabakshe, best known as Uppermost. And as you may recall, Netjabakshe has an internationally recognized profile for material he’s released through a number of renowned labels including Sony BMG, Ministry of Sound, BugEyed Records, Starlight Records and his own Uppwind Records — with singles like “Equivocal” landing at number 3 on Beatport’s electro house charts in 2009, and his Biscuit Factory EP landing at number 1 on the JunoDownload electro-house charts. Additionally, Netjabakshe has received attention for his remixes of Daft Punk, deadmau5, Burial, Crystal Castles, Jonathan Coulton, Syl Johnson, Congorock and others — and he’s had his work playlist by a nubmer of superstar producers and artists including Tiesto, Armin van Buren and Steve Angello.

Last week saw the release of the Paris-based producer and electronic music artist’s latest full-length effort, Origins 2011-2016, a massive 23 song LP, which features some of the French producer and electronic music artist’s most popular songs, including Flashback,” “Beautiful Light,” “Reminder” “Mistakes” as well as a new material including the shimmering and anthemic M83-channeling singles “Thousand Colors,” and “Emotion,” the Pink Floyd-channeling, cinematic “Reminder,” and the 45:33 and Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem-leaning “Alive.” To celebrate the release of the album, Netjabakshe shared a swooningly gorgeous and cinematic rendition of “Constellation” performed by members of the Paris Symphonic Orchestra that retains the lush, cinematic quality of the original.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rohan Newman is a Melbourne, Australia-based producer and electronic music artist, best known as Roland Tings — and in 2012, the Australian producer, who was then a virtual unknown caught the attention of renowned Los Angeles, CA-based electronic dance music label, 100% Silk Records, who released his debut EP. Unsurprisingly, as a result of his connection to the renowned label, Newman quickly became one of Melbourne’s go-to producers and DJs, performing at some of the city’s most raucous house parties and basement jams. Adding to a growing national and international profile, Newman was signed to renowned Norwegian electronic music label Internasjonal, founded by alt-disco, electronic music star Prins Thomas, and the label released Newman’s 2015 full-length debut, an album that Triple J named their Feature Album of the year.

Each Moment a Diamond, Newman’s much-anticipated sophomore Roland Tings album reveals a change in songwriting approach, with Newman renting a studio located in Melbourne’s industrial backstreets and treating the songwriting and production process as a 9-5 job, in which Newman developed a routine deliberately based around a repetitive and dependable schedule: every morning during the writing and recording of the album, Newman ate the same breakfast, rode his bike along the same route to the studio and hung up with the same friends at familiar places.  “Being at the studio all day every day was psychologically demanding. For each good idea I had, there were maybe 30 bad ones, which is hard to face when you look back on months of work and realize the majority of the material will never make the record. Eventually though I was able to see each ‘failure’ as a crucial contribution to overall whole,”Newman reflected in press notes.  “The routine also allowed me to grasp good ideas when they surfaced -– when something was different, when something sounded great, I quickly noticed and was able to follow each thread. Another valuable realization from this process was knowing when to stop, when to let go of an idea, power down the studio, get on my bike and head home.” Certainly, when you deal in a creative world, some of the lessons Newman learned while writing could be useful. . .

“Higher Ground” is the first single off Each Moment a Diamond, and the song is a collaboration featuring the breathy and sultry vocals of Nylo in a percussive, Zonoscope-era Cut Copy inspired house music track, featuring shimmering arpeggio synths, thumping beats, an rousing and soaring hook, and about 3/4s of the way through some Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar are added in a slickly produced song that focuses on the urgently swooning passion of first love. And while being a club-banger, the song manages to possess a radio-friendly vibe.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the last few months of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, you’ve most likely come across a couple of posts featuring the , Paris, France-based electronic music producer and electronic music artist Behad Netjabakshe, best known as Uppermost. And as Uppermost, Netjabakshe has received attention internationally for material released through a series of renowned labels including Sony BMG, Ministry of Sound, BugEyed Records, Starlight Records and his own Uppwind Records — with singles like “Equivocal”landing at number 3 on Beatport’s electro house charts in 2009, his Biscuit Factory EP ranked first on the JunoDownload electro-house charts.And adding to a rapidly growing international profile, Netjabakshe has had his work playlisted by superstar producers and artists such as Tiesto, Armin van Buren and Steve Angello. Netjabakshe has also received attention for his remixes of Daft Punk, deadmau5, Burial, Crystal Castles, Jonathan Coulton, Syl Johnson, Congorock and others.

Uppermost‘s soon-to-be released full-length effort Origins 2011 – 2016 is a 23 song LP that features some of the French producer and electronic music artist’s most popular songs, including Flashback,” “Beautiful Light,” “Reminder” “Mistakes” as well as a new material including the shimmering and anthemic M83-channeling singles “Thousand Colors,” and “Emotion” and the Pink Floyd-channeling, funky and cinematic “Reminder.”Origins 2011 – 2016‘s latest single “Alive” will further cement Netjabakshe’s reputation for slickly produced synth pop as the Paris-based electronic music artist and producer pairs layers of shimmering, arpeggio synths with a sinuous bass line, Nile Rodgers-like guitar and and a rousingly, anthemic hook; however, where two of the album’s singles were reminiscent of M83, the album’s latest single leans a bit more towards 45:33 and Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem, thanks to a club-friendly and accessible style.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Bold and Playful Visuals for El Dusty’s “La Chusa”

Olivera’s latest single “La Chusa” is a collaboration featuring Camilo Lara and Toy Selectah, which as Olivera explained to Univision in a recent interview, derives its title “from a South Texas Chicano folk story about this owl [in some Spanish speaking countries lechuza means owl] with the with the face of an old lady that stands on top of your house and scares kids into acting good. When I was a kid I was petrified of it!” Sonically though the song is comprised of a classic and beloved Columbian cumbia track, Los Hermanos Tuirán’s “La cumbia de la cordillera,” a track that’s not only about a bird on a mountain, and not even remotely related to El Dusty’s title, but it has also been used by sound systems and global bass DJs in Columbia and elsewhere. Interestingly, the track is a buoyant and swaggering track, full of tweeter and woofer rocking beats and bass paired with a joyous and mischievously anthemic hook that will make you get off your ass and move.

The recently released music video continues to cement Olivera’s burgeoning reputation for pairing his music with vivid and wild animation that takes after horror movies, cartoons and shows vatos hanging out and driving around town while blasting music before hitting up the club, dancing and trying to pick up some beautiful ladies — before discovering that the object of one’s desire is actually an anthropomorphic version of la chusa.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Eric Martin is a renowned programmer and producer, who can trace the beginning of his recording career to when he was a programmer for Zomba/Jive Records — but he first came to fame as a a founding member of 90s house music act Technotronic, with whom he co-wrote their smash hit single “Pump Up The Jam,” a single that sold more than 14 million copies worldwide. Interestingly, Martin has been incredibly busy over the years –as a producer and songwriter, he’s credited with writing and producing with a diverse array of artists including Maxi Priest, Capleton and Jeff Beck, and under his hip-hop recording project Me-One, Martin has collaborated with the likes of GURU and The Roots.

 

Martin’s latest single “Be” is a slickly producer, club-banger that’s clearly indebted to early 90s house music as Martin’s production pairs stuttering drum programming, undulating synths, an enormous drop, various electronic bleeps and bloops with London-based R&B vocalist Lifford‘s soulful crooning. And much like the period it’s clearly influenced by, the song possesses a simple but powerful message — that throughout your life you’ll have people telling you who you should be and what you should be doing with yourself; but that you have to be you, no mater what the cost.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Sofia Kourtesis is a Berlin, Germany-based DJ, producer and activist, who as a producer and DJ has developed a reputation for a sound that possesses elements of tech house, dream-pop, new wave and others while frequently using anything at her fingertips to create something unique — and interestingly enough has been described by some as falling somewhere between the minimalism of Aphex Twin and the ambiance of Jai Paul.

Over the holidays, Kourtesis released a sensual and atmospheric remix of Me Succeeds‘ “Cool Kids” in which she uses a chopped and reversed sample of her uncle’s voice, skittering drum programming and layers of shimmering and  gently undulating synths which gives the original a mischievous yet hopeful air — and a result, a completely different air from the slow-burning and industrial-leaning original.

As Kourtesis explains of her remix “The Cool Kids remix is really energetic and playful, I thought about our new generation, these people who are young and cool on their own special unique form. Kids wanna change things and maybe save the world someday.”

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Swooning and Psychedelic Visuals for Boys Noize’s Equally Swooning and Urgent Single “2 Live”

Mayday’s latest single “2 Live” is an ecstatic and swooning, club banger which features layers of cascading and twinkling synths, tweeter and woofer rocker bass drops, propulsive and insistent beats are paired with a swooning and anthemic hook to create what may arguably be one of the Berlin-based producer’s most euphoric and lovelorn songs to date. Interestingly, the recently released music video, which continues Ridha’s ongoing collaborations with LIL INTERNET and SUSBOY follows a young couple as they explore the outskirts of Mexico City in the near future — and while the couple is desperately in love, the video explores what can happen when song love and virtual reality are combined. Ultimately, the result is a video that’s psychedelic and yet urgent.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Known as the head of trendy, taste-making, French indie electronic music label Roche Musique and as a highly-regarded, up-and-coming electronic music and artist, whose production and sound possesses elements of house, R&B, hip-hop and nu-disco, Kartell, along with labelmates and friends Kaytranada, Stwo and Bondax are at the forefront of a “French touch” electronic music revival, which has also helped the Paris-based producer, electronic music artist and label head develop a growing international profile. And adding to a growing international profile, Kartell has remixed the work of Karma Kid and Lianne la Havas, collaborated with a number of renowned artists and producers, including Flares and others, as well as a busy touring schedule that included more than 100 dates across Europe, Asia, North America and South America.

Sapphire and Tender Games Kartell’s last two EPs were released to critical praise — and his soon-to-be released EP Last Glow, which his label Roche Musique will be releasing will further cement his reputation for slickly produced electronic music as you’ll hear on the house music and R&B-leaning “5 A.M.” And as you’ll hear on his latest single, Kartell employs the use of stuttering and cascading blocks of shimmering synths, boom bap-like beats, a chopped and cut soulful vocal sample to craft a song that feels sinuous and sensual and nods at Octo Octa and the 100% Silk Records roster — but with a populist, late night, club-banging feel.

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as one of the leading members of a burgeoning house revivalist moment, Chris Malinchak first came to prominence among EDM/house and electro pop scenes with the release of 2013’s “So Good To Me,” which received more than 10 million streams. And since then he’s built on buzz “So Good To Me” with a series of electro soul/classic house-leaning singles including the recently released “Tell Me” featuring a guest spot by Storm Queen‘s Damon Scott, “Please You” and “Remember Red.” His latest single “Wonderful” will appear on his forthcoming 2017 EP and the single pairs an effortlessly soulful and swooning vocal paired with shimmering synths, propulsive drum programming led by finger snaps, twinkling keys and an rousingly anthemic hook — and the result is a sweet declaration of love in a radio-friendly, club banger, that also sounds as though it channels early house music.