Picks Of The Week (07.10.23

1. SLESS, Zoe Boonzaier - Fly Away [DeVice]

Recommended if you like: Ruebik, Aktive, ShockOne

You know what we haven't done in a while? Talk about a Dancefloor newcomer from New Zealand! That's right, that wave still hasn't really subsided, even a good 2-3 years after the likes of Lee Mvtthews, Pirapus and REPAIR have started taking the scene by storm. So, fasten your seatbelts, get strapped in, for yet another essay about an artist you've probably never heard of before. Or should I say, SLESSay?

As you can tell from my impeccable punnery, today we're kicking things off with Auckland-based up-and-comer Daniel Slessor, artistically known as simply SLESS. Around 2020, Daniel got inspired by the tsunami of DnB being unleashed on his country during the pandemic and started to join in on the fun by mixing some tunas together himself. By the time 2021 rolled around, Daniel's own productions started hitting the digital shelves, with most of these very early, still quite liquidy vibes having been taking down by now. Unofficially, his The Vanguard Project bootleg was the kickoff for the project, but now it's his more Dancefloor-y original Choir. You know what they say, SLESS is more. Now that Daniel had SLESStablished (this is too fun) his sound a bit more, the tunes started rolling in, from bootlegs of Galantis or Billie Eilish to originals like Falling Down, some of which he even played live on legendary Kiwi radio show George FM Nights in late 2022! However, I have a feeling 2023 will become the pinnacle of his musical endeavours so far yet, SLESSpecially now that this newest tune of his, Fly Away, has been let loose on the scene.

Why do I think that? Most of his previous tunes were already quite sick after all. Well, most of them were also self-released, which always makes them a bit harder to get off the ground, and this new one is coming out on none other than DeVice, René LaVice's label for all things heavy and sick! In case you don't know: Since being founded in March 2020, the very beginning of the pandemic, DeVice has become a place for both veterans, like Aktive, Changing Faces, Jessee, Protostar, AIRGLO, S9 and of course Mr. The Vice himself, and newcomers alike across a ton of releases. Especially the EXPOSED compilation series has been great at shining a spotlight on all sorts of up-and-coming talents, but often enough, newcomers also get a chance at a solo release on the imprint. Like SLESS, for example!

Alright, so let's talk about this brand new tune then! With singer-songwriter and fellow Kiwi Zoe Boonzaier providing some proper anthemic vocals, Fly Away is already off to a great takeoff, but don't worry, Daniel effortlessly converts this excellent assist into a full-blown stratospheric banger with bouncy, chuggy basses, incredibly powerful, punchy drums to get you off your not-so-comfy, way too narrow seat already, even heavier yet still melodically charged horns for that sweet sweet screwface, and a couple wobbly delayed drop moments to elicit that extra hype response.

An incredibly effective shot of energy to wake you up, a SLESSpresso if you will. With tunes like this, he'll be a SLESSential part of any big lineup in no time. I want SMORE!

Other dancefloor from this week:

Metrik, AEON:MODE - Awake
Armin Van Buuren - Lose This Feeling (Dimension Remix)
DNMO, Zara Kershaw - Forever Changes
REPAIR - Obsessed
Volition, A:dan - All The Way
Deep Notion - Right All Along
Goldstorm - Coming Down 💎

2. CCX - Day By Day 💎 [The Omen Records]

Recommended if you like: Buunshin, Secula, Synergy

Time for some new music from a name some of you might remember, but that's still underrated enough for me to accurately call him my Hidden Gem Of The Week™️: CCX!

It's only been around a year since we last talked about Joaquin Wilson, as part of my deep dive on Sinful Maze's Outer Operators compilation, and to be honest, not much has changed since then. This is basically the followup release already! Last time he told me two things I can add to my initial outline of his career so far though: 1) CCX actually comes from his childhood nickname Cocox, Spanish for coconut, and I think you can figure out the rest on your own, and 2) he's actually in the pro gaming scene? Quite the rarity in this scene actually. What's even rarer, however, is that his production skills are on such a high level it wouldn't surprise me if he was able to go pro in music too! You've already heard me gush about his previous tune, you know how positively I feel about his talents. But this new one is on a whole 'nother level entirely!

Oh, you know what, there's actually a third new thing I learned: he's been busy working in relaunching the platform for all sorts of sick DnB and DnB-adjacent music, The Omen Records, with his mates Noised and Lauren! While there were a couple tunes and mixes distributed via Omen before, it wasn't too active from what I can tell. Now, the whole platform seems to have been rebuilt from the ground-up, with a whole new visual language and incredibly sick new music, starting with this newest CCXperience, Day By Day!

Very gently, with only few nostalgically crackling distorted piano chords, we make our way into this wonderful world, where we are greeted by otherworldly synths orbiting a honestly amazing vocal effortlessly switching back and forth between very soulful, heartfelt moments and lower-pitched layered responses, resulting in quite the catchy intro. After some more teasing of what's to come, we are strapped onto a pounding 4x4 auditory hype machine, and then the real craziness begins. The drums have already been teased to have a hidden wild side early on, but what CCX unleashes onto our collective ears here is simply out of line. In a mind-blowingly awesome way, that is! Not only are they astoundingly heavy on their own already, he actually goes the CCXtra mile and layers them with supremely aggressive bass stabs, creating an honestly insane foundation for this chaotic hurricane of a tune. Underneath all of that, he flexes his sound design muscles to an almost unhealthy degree, with destructively dynamic bass growls that will probably haunt me in my dreams. After this full assault on the senses, we smoothly decelerate back down, dropping one aspect of the crazy hurricane at a time, until we're just left with this stunning composition of strings to cool us off. A proper outro! In this day and age! I love it!

No matter how high you set your CCXpectations, trust me, they are gonna be met! Truly CCXtraordinary.

Other techy things from this week:

Annix - Lose Control
The Caracal Project - Stone cold.
Kevala, Gifta - Losing
Trinist - Never