New Music Friday is intense. Hundreds of songs drop from artists around the world, and you’re supposed to somehow find the best ones. It’s fun work, but it’s time-consuming — so we at Billboard Dance want to give you a hand. Each week, we sift through the streams and dig in the digital crates to present five absolute must-hears from the wide breadth of jams.
Today is a special Valentine’s edition of First Spin. Everyone got in on the romantic theme, although many gave love a dark twist. Some artists got an early start, like RAC with his Third Eye Blind cover alongside newlyweds Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma.
Laidback Luke got his love on with Sxmson, and Alunageorge got cozy with Far East Movement. Confidence Man, too, ut out a feel-good tune, while Paul van Dyk explored the “Duality” of the self.
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Now, let’s take a look at the new jams.
Love Regenerator, “The Power Of Love II”
Happy freaking Valentine’s Day to everyone, especially Calvin Harris. The king of modern dance music is out to regressively claim the crown of the early ’90s. His new alias Love Regenerator is a time-capsule of a sonic experience, using only era-specific gear to create wholly modern grooves from nostalgic palettes. He started with a double EP in January, and he’s back on the Hallmark holiday with two more stunners.
Love Regenerator 2 features two edits and two extended versions, all of which are worth rocking. We’re highlighting the intro track, “The Power of Love II,” because it’s morse code synth hits mixed with soulful vocal wails have us throwin’ our hands up to the house music gods. We wanna sweat and cry and make out all at once, which is probably the power of love, too. — KAT BEIN
Meduza ft. Shells, “Born to Love”
Italian trio Meduza hit the jackpot almost immediately in their young careers, with their 2019 debut single “Piece of Your Heart” with Goodboys becoming an Ibiza favorite and nabbing a Grammy nomination for best dance recording. Following their sophomore outing “Lose Control,” Meduza kick off 2020 with “Born to Love” on powerhouse label Defected Records.
Whereas Meduza’s music so far has flirted with commercial climes, “Born to Love” is a decidedly clubbier affair. The vocals, by UK singer Shells, are less of a focal point and more of an instrument to be chopped and blended. It’s a tougher, groovier sound from them, while still retaining that delightfully brooding underbelly. — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Loud Luxury, “Cold Feet”
The Canadian duo return with “Cold Feet,” the lead single from their forthcoming EP Nights Like This, out via Armada on March 27. The dance pop sound of their 2017 hit “Body” — which is still racking up streams with a current 654 million plays on Spotify — is echoed here, with “Cold Feet” bouncing along with the pep and moxie of someone who doesn’t have ’em. The duo continue their Las Vegas residency at Hakkasan this spring and summer. — KATIE BAIN
Boys Noize, “Girl Crush” Feat. Rico Nasty
Boys Noize did not come to play. He came to bomb you freaks with bass, and he brought Rico Nasty to prove it. The Berlin-based DJ and producer is hot from his first Grammy nomination, and today, he smokes the scene with a real mean double-sided stomper. “Girl Crush” is an industrial brawl laced with sexual tension. Nasty whispers seductively about the object of her surprise affection over a bloody face analog synth beat. We didn’t know music could be a BDSM experience, but that’s what this is. It’s paired with “Buchla 100,” a brooding and hypnotic techno instrumental. There’s a lot more Boys Noize to come this year, so keep a keen ear set. — K. Bein
Spencer Brown, “Womaa”
San Francisco-based producer Spencer Brown made 329 versions of his new album Stream of Consciousness, and the herculean effort proves to be well worth it with the album single “Womaa.” A brightly emotional peak time progressive track, the sound here is exuberant, spacious and clearly meticulous.
“I prefer to craft music that keeps my listener in a flow state — working, studying, traveling, exercising, dancing, whatever it may be,” Brown, a self described “control-freak,” says in a statement. “I conceived my album as one carefully mixed piece: an hour and change of continuous music.” A rare long player indeed, Stream of Consciousness is out now via Above & Beyond’s venerable Anjunabeats imprint. — K. Bain
Project Paradis, “Cut 11”
Here’s a banger so heavy, it’ll make you wanna hide Alexa. Mr. Carmack and Promnite have revived their Project Paradis collaboration, a sonic storyline that tells of total A.I. domination. Paradis 1 introduced the apocalyptic scene, and forthcoming EP Paradis 2 tells how the automated overlords feed and learn on imprisoned human minds. The concepts are felt through grimy, bass-heavy productions that slice and dice through your gray matter.
The first two singles are out now on Mad Decent, and we’re gonna turn your attention to the hyper heat of “Cut 11.” These are beats to blow your back out, meant to simulate the pure adrenaline rush of the fight or flight response. The full Paradis 2 EP comes March 27. Start training today. — K. Bein
Mija & Gammer, “Digressions”
Is drum’n’bass romantic? Sure, why not? Especially if Mija is going to sing all bedroomy about wanting and touching and keeping at a distance. The genre-fluid producer and DJ has always had a love affair with d’n’b beats, and she got with UK hardcore star Gammer to put a real dreamy spin on the old boom clack. The rapid-fire rhythms and swirling synth chaos captures the dizzy-head reeling of falling helplessly in a love that can’t be returned, for one reason or another.
We’re real lost in the sauce with this one, the second official single from Mija’s forthcoming Desert Trash LP. The full album is out Feb. 26, but you can love “Digressions” up close and personal this V-Day. — K. Bein
Brux, Fruit EP
After a slow drip of singles over the past two years, Aussie producer and Billboard Dance Emerging Artist Brux has finally released her debut EP, Fruit. From it, we’ve already heard “BWP (B–ches Want Pictures),” but that still leaves two all-new songs which welcome us into her dark lair. The title track sounds like a twisted take on a Valentine’s Day serenade, bass-heavy and carnal as she sings, “I’m lonely, so are you, share my body like a piece of fruit.”
Rounding out the trio is “Hoarse,” a disorienting, more club-forward track that jackhammers its way into your chest before ascending into a plane of haunting beauty. Fruit is, in Brux’s words, a “social observation on our pursuits of pleasure and validation.” In ours, it’s proof that she’s one of Dim Mak’s most exciting new signings. — K. Rodriguez