Dexter's Beat Laboratory Vol. 85
Dexter’s Beat Laboratory Vol. 85
Dexter’s Beat Laboratory is a weekly collection of songs from DA managing editor Robyn Dexter. With a taste that can only be described as eclectic — to say nothing of a name that lends itself to punnery — DA is happy to present a selection of tracks personally curated by Dexter for your listening pleasure.
Listen in playlist format here.
Metrik has returned with his first single since September’s “Dawnbreaker” on Hospital Records. Haunting vocals rise gradually in “Hackers,” building to the racing drop. This slightly frantic-feeling four-minute journey has an almost post-apocalyptic dystopian feel to it, which makes sense more as the artist explains the background behind the tune. “I made this track to be a techy dancefloor piece exploring my Y2K cyberpunk influences,” Metrik says of the release.
Just weeks after the release of his first release in many months, “Cocaine Girl,” Goldroom has delivered yet another single, titled “Yellow Flowers.” He teams up with vocalist Mereki for the spirited tune, noting its importance to him in his production process. “This song is special to me because writing it broke me through a barrier and brought me back to my first love in dance music – French house,” Goldroom said in a tweet. “Yellow Flowers” is a sun-drenched ray of sunshine, perfect to usher dance music fans into the year’s warmer months. Mereki’s vocals complement Goldroom’s production perfectly, coming together for a groovy French house number that’s guaranteed to stay with the listener long after the beat has faded out.
It’s been 25 years since Kurt Cobain‘s death, and artists across the musical spectrum have taken time this week to honor the late great Nirvana singer. One such artist is Grabbitz, who’s released a “revival” of “All Apologies,”one of his favorites. “My childhood contained a lot of sounds, but one that will never escape me is the sound of Nirvana,” he said in his accompanying music video‘s description. “From the earliest I can remember, they’ve changed the way I look at and create music.” Grabbitz’s re-imagining of the 1993 song is raw and and emotion-soaked, with his passionate vocals soaring over the instrumentals.
Chicago native Summer Was Fun has created an homage to one of the Windy City’s most recognizable streets, Lake Shore Drive. While many of the songs under his Summer Was Fun moniker are more subdued, Summer Was Fun uses inspiration drawn from his city to explore elements of trance and future bass. Cascading melodies fall both gracefully and furiously at different drops of the tune, as the producer weaves between styles and focal points. The tune ends as it begins: with a simple, graceful piano melody.
Mr FijiWiji and Matt Van‘s new Monstercat single is the perfect note to end on. The two artists have categorized the song as “chillout,” and the description is an accurate one. With a focus on Van’s captivating harmonies to Mr FijiWiji’s top-notch production, “Enough” paints a serene soundscape of lush instrumentals and wistful vocals. These longtime collaborators have consistently made magic together over the years, from “Tomorrow” to “Andromeda” to their joint Ed Sheeran cover.
