Picks Of The Week (09.11.24

1. Used - Night Shift LP [Breakbeat Kaos]

Recommended if you like: Andromedik, Primate, Fox Stevenson

I know, talking about euphoric Dancefloor or Jump Up is a Dangerous Game on here. But Tonight, I don't care. You Say I'm a Psycho, you call me a Freak, and fantasize about putting me in the reddit Jailyard - that's fine, I can Take It. Anyone I haven't lost by this point: Come along, follow me down the path to the incredible debut album by none other than Jo Eelen, better known as Belgian superstar Used, one of the Lighthouses of the Belgian DnB scene Riding The Wave of Crossover Success wherever he goes. Across one hit after the other, Jo has Taken you and Me us on an Eelegendary relationship ride, from declaring He's Theirs, to the fateful Mistake, to him practising the Art Of Missing Them and pleading for them to Come Back Home, to realising how much he's Better Off On His Own, to him entirely Forgetting the whole thing ever happened. However, ever since his deeply personal storytelling, combined with the incredibly fun productions, has taken him Higher and Higher up the scene's ladder and pushed him further and further into the Limelight of fans and critics, Jo's music has evolved from its youthful roots to purer and purer Gold. Also, Dust.

Before we get to that, though, let's give our protagonist the introduction he deserves.

1.1. Jo Eelen, JoEeleen, JoEeleeeen, JoEeleeeeeen (1996 - 2017)

Born at the very tail-end of 1996, Jo grew up in the Kempen region of Wechelderzande, a sub-municapility of Lille, Belgium, in a household absolutely bursting with music, thanks to both of his parents working as music teachers. Fulfilling the inevitability set by these circumstances, Jo would eventually enrol in the Heilig Grafinstituut in Turnhout to study classical violin, while also learning the piano on the side. At 14, however, perhaps in between practice sessions, he happened to catch a glimpse of the music channel TMF. The tune playing at the time? Iron Heart. From there on, he became obsessed with all things Netsky, to the point that he later bragged about being able to identify most of his early works in a second or less, but of course, through a healthy diet curated by UKF and Liquicity, and thanks to legends like Murdock playing shows at his school, he quickly also fell in love with the genre in general.

Of course, the Joung Eelenthusiast wanted to participate in the music game himself as well, and by 2013, he had already found a name for himself: USD! Which stands for upside down, of course. After another brief period of working together with his mate Codex as Codex & USD, he went solo again, and since his American cash money name was already ~~used~~ taken, he rebranded once more, to Used. While at first mostly used for his gigs at the youth center De Wollewei, his mate screwing around with Fruity Loops on his laptop made him realise he could do the same, kicking off his production journey. Once done with school, he enrolled at the PXL-Music University of Applied Sciences in Hasselt, where he quickly realised how miserable this is compared to his real passion, music. Roughly 2 years into his studies, he quit to pursue music full-time, making ends meet by working at an assembly line, stacking bricks and driving around blood samples.

1.2. Mistaking It To The Next Level (2018 - 2021)

Soon enough, this unparalleled dedication started to bear fruits. After slowly but surely finding his own musical voice, he was struggling on what to do with a particularly fun, still unreleased at the time, instrumental of his, until one fateful day, when he combined it with lyrics he had written to process a rather nasty breakup situation a few years prior - Mistakes was born. Recorded with a ski-sock-proofed USB microphone in his parent's house's laundry room at three in the morning, it was perhaps a little scrappy, but Jo at least believed in it enough to put it up as a free download in 2018. A few months of a couple of hundreds of thousands of plays and endless hype later, he released it on streaming platforms as well, kicking off his career rather spectacularly.

Amidst declarations of him being the new Netsky, he put out another few tunes, one on Breeze and one with Hedex on his From The Rave long-player, but it was another single that caught the masses' attention. After the out-of-pocket success of Mistakes, Jo started taking his online presence way more seriously, and one of his many posts at the time was a breakdown of his unreleased tune Come Back Home, which, again, went through the roof. None other than Macky Gee slid into his DMs to release the tune, and even though Jo was hesitant at first, hearing the Rampage crowd's reaction to it during Mr. Gee's set convinced him. In 2020, Jo was teasing the third entry in this breakup-themed Jump-Up trilogy, Better On My Own, to be released on Rampage's very own label, shortly after he would close out the massive Sportpaleis stage.

While that obviously didn't quite work out, he would see more and more support on StuBru radio, with Average Rob and Hebben Het Kan on their Boitlyfe program being the first in line, and with his heartfelt pandemic depression anthem Where I Belong, even managing to top the iTunes charts, ahead of Mariah Carey! As laid bare in it, Jo was struggling a lot with the everything at the time, but his career kept on popping off, with massive remixes for Adnromedik and Skepsis, some Squid Game inspired vibes, and his very first EP on Rampage's Radar, the title track of which not only earned him his very first of very many UKF uploads, but also became StuBru's Catch Of The Day.

1.3. The Netsky Is The Limit (2022 - 2024)

As the world opened back up in 2022, everything came crashing down on Jo, but like, in a good way. A too good way. A weekly residency at StuBru radio, with bootlegs to go along with it, making good on his 2020 promise and playing a packed Sportpaleis, smashing out sets at Lotto Arena and Pukkelpop Boiler Room, closing out his very own stage at Sunrise festival, a platinum certification for Mistakes, almost meeting Dimitri Vegas and going on New Zealand tour with Luude and Netsky, a rather spectacular full circle moment. Plus, he's put out remixes for the one and only Gold Dust together with Bou, and Acid, his favourite YouTuber to watch during rough college times, went through the remix-to-collaboration pipeline by working with DJ Fresh on Breakbeat Kaos and Andromedik on NCS, on which he would later make his solo debut as well.

After almost dying in 2023, because of a bet of who could stay underwater the longest (...), he channelled his inner Russian donk addict with his first self-released tune in a while, and started a series of suspiciously similarly themed singles on DJ Fresh's reborn label. So far, so unsuspicious. However, the real kickers came this very year, as he not only unveiled that all this musical goodness was actually part of his debut album all along, but also debuted his Used Live show at the Ancienne Belgique, played on Tomorrowland's main stage (!), signed with Universal and officially remixed Joost Klein's immensely massive Eurovision entry, Europapa. Now, after an album launch show at the aforementioned AB, the rest of the world can also finally dive into it all, so let's see what the hype is all about, let's finally talk Night Shift!

1.4. Night Shift

In recent interviews, Jo explains that Night Shift isn't just a celebration of the nocturnal lifestyle this dream career of his brings along with it, in signature Used fashion, it's also about being open about the negative, unhealthy, mentally taxing parts of it. Opener Psycho, with Dutchie multi-talent Benjamin Idle Days Goossenaerts providing the desperate vocals, takes us on a ride through exactly this dichotomy, from the ever-rising pressure of the intro synths and soft self-talk to the explosion of the titular realisation, the extra bouncy distorted basses and the melancholic synth lead. On Dopamine with yet another Dutchie, Liquicity Legend RIENK, on his amazing as usual vocal duty, we take a look at his almost crippling love for all things music. With vocals infused with live Rock energy, an absurdly catchy synth melody and some 8bitcrush vibes, this papapackage manages to capture the earworm melodies, the loud crowds, the sheer endless supplies of dopamine this whole life brings along with it.

On our way home after the show, we do a quick stop at the Lighthouse. In Used's case, that is the Ranst gas station, where he regularly stocks up on fresh snacks in the mornings, to the point the attendants even know his face! In this nightly thicket of vibey electric guitars, the triumvirat of murk-blubbery bubbles, growling basslines and cheeky, uplifting and even acidy synths shines a light so bright, so fun and so vibey that you can't help but be hyped for the next party. Luckily, the Limelight awaits us shortly after, with such a brash yet cute, bouncy synth lead, such lovely violins all over, such a signature Used vocal performance full of self-deprecating catchiness, I can't help but feel like we're witnessing peak Used. This sugary fun, of course, can be quite the Dangerous Game. Even in this whirlwind of 4x4 hype, rave pianos and back-and-forths between double dosed Used bass and cheery synths walking up and down the stairs, the songwriting team around Flynn, of MEDUZA and Lost Frequencies fame, Pete Hammerton, of Culture Shock, Vibe Chemistry and Maduk fame, and amazing vocalist Jessica Doolan makes that point clear in incredibly catchy fashion.

Of course, in the one year I've been roped into going to the four-day Hardstyle extravaganza Defqon.1, while pumping our fists to Norwegian Hard Dance duo Da Tweekaz' hour of madness, we suddenly hear the MC announcing ... Used? That's right, Crossover sees the three collaborate on a one-of-a-kind merger between the two genres, with LePrince guiding us from incredibly heavy, deep kicks, layered with some distant pieps for good measure, to a Breakbeat-infused euphoric Hardstyle buildup, to a proper Used banger drop to even Hardstyle 4x4 madness. We go faster, never slower indeed. We Ride The Wave of energy a bit further, with Jo's heavily stylised vocals assuring us that it's fine, while a sublimely progressing melodic combination of powerful jumpy plucks and swiftly upwards pointing bass puts a massive smile on our face. We contrast this uplifting energy with Tonight, featuring previous remix partner Bou, and what I can only describe as a certified UK club bangeranger, complete with fake-out drops, tight drums and bleepy bloops.

We continue on with the perhaps surprisingly deep Used sound, with Ruth Royall collaboration vehicle In My Head, in which her ruthlessly soulful majesty questions the undying love she has for her problematic opposite. However, even in the subdued first half, his signature optimistic sounds keep peaking into the mix, as if stuck inside his head while the party roars around him, but once we get out of this prison in the second half, the hectic, melodic triplets are fully unleashed. Similarly reflecting, You Say, featuring the heartbreaking vocals of best surname haver ever, Jamier McCool, tackles Jo's decision to keep on following down the long road of his dream his way instead of letting others dictate it all, with a wonderful combination of deeply rumbling basses and the cheeky plucky lead trucking on no matter what.

Deeper and deeper into Jo's consciousness, we reach the apex of it all, Explanation. In classic Used fashion, with moody guitar chords, an uplifting as fuck, yet melancholic lead on top of jumpy, punchy drums, Jo tells us just how fine he is. No need to read into it any further, his infinite passion for music is definitely not taking its toll on him. However, the proposed alternative - quitting - is so much worse, that he knows it's not even a possibility for him. Which is exactly why he needs to lay out just how intensely he feels about this strangest dream of his, on album closer LOVE. Featuring mister Coolston McCool once more, and with songwriter Oscar Dawson from R3HAB and Holy Holy fame in his boat, the trio shows us just why Jo subjects himself to this all, with a larger-than-life chorus, classic Used plucks, brassy basses and heartbreaking strings wonderfully conveying just how much of this feeling he's feeling.

1.5 Conclusion

Songwriting contrasting euphoric declarations of love to this thing we call music with deeply personal struggles that the reality of the career brings with it, paired with in-your-face, bouncy and fun production - this is Belgium's finest at his best.

Picks Of The Week (09.11.24 - 15.11.24)