2024 January new music

Starting 2024, I'm gonna start a monthly series for new music that comes out, primarily EDM of course.

Introduction

As for the first month of this series, let's set some expectations. I think that this year won't be an "iconic" or "elite" year for EDM. I think it could be worse than 2023. But I also think that there are some interesting artists to look out for, like Skybreak, Haywre, THIRST, Tsu Nami, JeongHyeon. But it's def not comforting knowing that we're fresh out of a year with album releases from Skrillex, Owl City, Au5, Chainsmokers, Midnight Kids, Man Club, Chime, Jvna, Emei ... and these artists likely will be on tour or taking this year to work on new music or a break or whatever. Madeon even established this year to be the "gap era" where he will release one song in February and take the rest of the year to dip out and work on new music and find inspiration and stuff.

So yeah, nonetheless, EDM will always be thriving, as there's too many incredible artists for me to keep track of. I'm really hoping for some tracks from Virtual Riot. That's who I'm on the lookout for among many others. Either this year or next year he's gotta drop some stuff. He's been very inactive lately in terms of posting music. We do however have Teminite who said he's going to release one track each month for 2024 which is def exciting.

List and Reactions

1/4 = More Plastic & Halvorsen - Sunrise | DnB | NCS - Copyright Free Music

Halvorsen is a great artist and vocalist. I'm anticipating this song will make it to my rotation just based on past history, he's always been super consistent at making melodic house or electro house, and his vocals are def my niche. A lot of this production may not be him tho, prob More Plastic production
Ok, listening to it and i love the vocals. Drop isn't for me tho, solid DnB drop. Interesting backout and fade in fills. Very old-school song, takes me back to 2016.
Second drop comes in SOARING with an electric guitar and I was about to rate this song as mid but NAH this electric guitar is SICK with the layering. Love it.
Prob won't make rotation, but that electric guitar solo is very infectious. Good track, but everything else was kinda mid tho lmao

1/5 = CHYL & Cesqeaux & Never Sleep - Voyage (Visualizer)

big fan of chyl and her speedhouse tracks and collabs
unique songs and vocal samples
cool speed house, cool drops, actually really solid drop, love the melodic lines in there and the halftime section
added this track to my rotation!! didnt expect it honestly but i love the variations and drops

1/5 = nanobii - All I Want [Monstercat Release]

trance track from nanobii, hes made good music in the past but this one sucks, sorry

1/5 = Rameses B - OVERDOSE

solid trance-phonk fusion with cluttered vocals. not my type tho, i respect this track tho.

1/5 = Crystal Skies & SOUNDR - Growing Pains

Some very solid melodic dubstep here from Crystal Skies, I would've been obsessed with this track like 2 years ago.
With a rather uneventful and generic verses I would say, the drop is filled with vocal chops, chords, vocals, synths, and assorted ear candies. Added to my rotation, I'm really liking this track.

1/6 = Excision & Sullivan King - Codename: Reckless [Official Visualizer]

Death metal dubstep class from excision and sullivan king
To me this is just a whole lot of nothing. Useless, forgettable music, the drops are generic and there's nothing unique that stands out. I never rly listened to Sullivan King anyway so this was pretty expected

1/6 = Diamond Eyes - Lies | Future Trap | NCS - Copyright Free Music

I'm a big fan of Diamond Eyes and I haven't been up to date with him recently but cool to see him on NCS. He's had so many bangers and collabed with Christina Grimmie before
Very unique feel and instrumentals so far, very recognizable vocals
Drop is VERY clean, love the reverses and fills. The synth and melody I don't really like that much tho. Very respectable though.
This melody is VERY nuanced actually, it like swirls and jumps from low octaves to high octaves, it's quite dizzying. This is quite a unique melody. Very unique and low-key song from Diamond Eyes here. Won't be making my rotation but that's not his problem. Good work, that melody is very unique man I actually like it a lot the more I listen to it. BPM may be a bit too slow for it.

1/8 = Bad Computer & Ryan Coss - 4D [Monstercat Release]

For bad computer's standards, I was disappointed. I just didn't like the melody, thought the progression was very unique though. I think we can all agree this is a very forgettable track.

1/10 = YOUNG MIKO || BZRP Music Sessions #58

Super excited and after like 3 listens man, this may be his best song of all time, which is A BIG statement...
The beat switches and progression is amazing, the rapping and singing is exactly what I love man. And then all hell just breaks loose during the midtempo section 2 minutes in... like what???
bzrp does so much experimentation in this song with all the different beats and sections he does, but by far the most impressive was the midtempo, I don't know how he does it, it could legitimately be influenced by Virtual Riot, not sure, but the pitched vocal chops, lack of bass create a dreamy, mystifying, eerie midtempo. Absolutely amazing, and then it transitions to the piano chill section. Absolutely sensational work from Bzrp, will be in my rotation for so long, and it just further cements him as one of my top artists who really never misses and never disappoints when he releases a new track.

1/10 = Mean It - Ghostdragon, shXdow., Daye

Seeing Ghostdragon and Daye on a track is a good sign. Time to listen to it.
Verse is nice, drop is very underwhelming though. The effects and fills are good but the drop itself doesn't match the energy. Alright second verse and nice buildup, same drop. Bridge is good
Very mid song, all the synths and instrumentals are very Ghostdragon-esque, he barely experiments in this one. Very mid, forgettable single. The verse and vocals and bridge were honestly not bad but you can't say much about the song when the synth break is straight up so generic.

1/10 = THIRST - BOUNCE [Monstercat Release]

Another phonk song from THIRST, I actually like his tracks a lot.
I would say this song is very forgettable phonk song, but there's nothing to hate about it. Very serviceable. Also too short, a lot of ppl complain that THIRST songs are too short
IMO, THIRST should commit to more collabs maybe, as his speed house collab with chyl was SUPER good. I could see collabs taking him places.

1/9 = GUY ARTHUR - FALLING [CHOMPO]

Some very nice electro-house from guy arthur here, love the vocals and second verse. The drop is also very elaborate. Love the drop, this song has so many great key components to what makes a good song
Very unique and complex, elaborate drops and buildups along with great pacing in the verses and vocals. Going to my rotation no hesitation

1/10 = Alan Walker, Putri Ariani, Peder Elias - Who I Am (Official Reaction Compilation)

Alan Walker has been releasing lots of mid lately so I expect mid
vocals are super good, i love the vocals actually.
However, the drop is pretty mid in my opinion, and the track itself is mid

1/11 = STAR SEED & Dreweybear feat. Josefina - Lost

verse isn't bad
another trance song, pretty bad, maybe i just hate this genre

1/12 = Cadmium X Zack Merci - Grand Escape (Teminite Remix) (ft. Tara Louise)

Teminite announced monthly releases for the entirety of 2024 which is super exciting. Literally ever since 2021 we've seen super minimal of Teminite and Virtual Riot, who are on my radar for 2024 and 2025. Teminite and VR were a huge core for my EDM during quarantine and they've been fairly quiet ever since.
This track to represent the January release isn't bad. Signature teminite sound and synths and drops.
Vocal driven track here and my favorite drop is probably the final drop. It's really good with the synth rushes and lines and the fast paced growls. Definitely great contrast from the first straightforward drop which go hawn in hawn building character throughout the song
However, there's no signature melody or melodic line in this track, it's fairly generic and fairly forgettable. It's a solid track no quesiton tho, def making my rotation. Just nothing compared to Teminite's other stuff like "Accelerate" caliber or his Unstoppable EP or Pirate Dubstep. This track isn't elite.

1/12 = Ariana Grande - yes, and? (official music video)

Overall, this song and its production is great. I love the instrumentals and specifically the house beat along with the fills. The beat is really nice and when I first listened to it I def grappled on to that component of the song the best.
Outside of that, the chorus isn't bad, but mainly the verse and the production is honestly a big BOP.
With that being said, the bridge in this song is pretty horrible and does so much disgrace to this track. Not only is the vocal processing just not pleasant at all, but the lack of melody and movement is very uncharacteristic towards the rest of the bulk of this track. The progression is very minimalist, and mainly the lyrics and vocals are so terrible. The one thing I will say about this bridge is that the transition back into the chorus is pretty clean. I love the unexpected "why" before it all hits back again. That's the most I can say about it tho.
So overall this song is going into my pop playlist, but that bridge is a big disappointment, along with the overall message of the song, including the intro dialogues and whatever thats supposed to mean. Ariana as a person isn't doing too great and has done some questionable things, so to take this mindset of "my business is mine" is not only ignorant, but a terrible attempt of being a savagely blunt. It just makes out as douchebag material to me in this context.

1/12 = Vaance new EP

It's basically just one new song, "Stay" along with 2 previously released tracks. Vaance is a nice electro-pop dance producer who has some nice tracks. I have fairly high expectations.
And this track is pretty good! The pride-like feeling in the verse is something I jam with, and the movement of it in the 2nd verse just expands on it so well.
The drop is not bad. It's fairly simplistic with vocal layering but the main star of the show is this second verse. It's so beautifully sung, and then the toms coming in the second build-up is so stylistic.
A very vocal heavy highlighted track here that's quite different than some of his other stuff. It's almost like a rock kit and rock groove for the drums. Overall tho this song is making my rotation but like it's not elite, just solid with that second verse. I'm def not disappointed.

1/12 = Marshmello, venbee - No Man's Land (Official Lyric Video)

Generic average liquid drum and bass
So forgettable, nothing else worth talking about. Mid.

1/15 = Skybreak & Dani Demand - The Epic Octopus Song [Monstercat Release]

There was a bit of anticipation coming into this song with such a unique title and artwork. Coming from skybreak I knew this would be a wild ride, and it surely was.
THIS SONG IS FIRE... It's some bass-driven colorbass with just cluttered sounds everywhere along with melodic themes sunk between. It's very unique and innovative with many sounds I haven't heard before
Midsection has some very glitchy stuttery soundscapes and overall I just love what this track is building and the character it plays. The themes are great and I love the way they're managed throughout the track.
With that being said this will make my rotation but I wouldn't go too far to consider this track to be elite. The main quarter note ripple-like synth line that transitions the intro, midsection, and outro can get a bit repetitive as there isn't much variation to it. I love the bass in this song and the structure and melodic liens though, this is some classic Skybreak work here and he is showing he has no boundaries.

1/17 = RetroVision - Take Me Higher [Monstercat Release]

RetroVision has been releasing lots of new music recently and the theme is that some of it is pretty mid to me but you can never count him out as some of his progressive electro house synth breaks are top-tier. For example, the release before this, "Eternity" with Jeonghyeon is ELITE man it's so good, so melodic, the drops are amazing, and the second verse is transcendental
So "Take Me Higher" belongs in the mid category. It's a very generic track to me with generic lines and generic drops. Very Retrovision-esque drops. Won't be making my rotation

1/18 = Seven Lions, Andrew Bayer & Fiora - Places I Belong (Official Lyric Video)

Seven Lions makes some nice melodic dubstep
This one is trance and is very generic. Vocals are so generic too. Like, I guess the vocals fit in but they're just so generic that I don't like them.
It's a nice synth lead with a nice drop. A bit generic with not many embellishments
It's some neat trance, aside from that blaring synth lead that's so iconic to this song, it's forgettable. The drops are so forgettable to me. Second drop with the vocal chops are cool, I like vocal chops. However there's just something here that I don't like. I can't quite put a finger on it. So yeah, unfortunate. It's not a bad song.

1/19 = Chime & Convexity - Liminal [Monstercat Release]

This track is ELITE. I'm a big Chime fan and a big Convexity fan, I think Convexity is super underrated. Though lots of his discography is very similar within each other and ultimately all his songs sound the same, it's some very unique music.
This song is so good to me, it's very similar to the Skybreak song where it's just cluttered fx and samples with inserted melodic lines that just piece everything together. And the narration transitions are so clean and add so much character to the song, especially in the Saxophone mid-section, which was so unexpected for me. I did NOT expect a saxophone solo to pop up, but somehow they made it fit. A very slow mid-register solo too, very elegant build-up. And then the second drop just casually has a metal pot sound effect with risers everywhere. Having listened to so much of Convexity's discography, his production is so unique you can easily distinguish which parts are his influence. The melody and synth are so Convexity as I've heard that same synth in so many of his other songs. Also of course the beep snares, along with the spontaneous synth risers that he somehow fits in. And of course the narration is so Convexity-like.
The story is great, I wish they could've elaborated a bit more on the spookiness of the "something more sinister at play" as they do leave you hanging very mysterious with the vocal filters in the end. I thought they could've double downed on that and went full-on sinister and added some spooky laughs or something because that evil feeling just doesn't sit fully with you, it ends too abruptly for it to digest. I think it didn't reach its full potential.
So some great work from Chime and Convexity, a great collab, and a great track. Added to my rotation no question. I added it immediately after hearing that intro and transition man that was FIRE.

1/19 = aibahn new song

vocal-driven drum and bass, aiobahn has made some bangers on monstercat that i love
so a bit disappointing. There's some nice synth licks and ideas but it just doesnt resonate, along with being a bit repetitive.

1/25 = Chromatically - Haywre

new haywre release on monstercat, haywre is very consistent for me and im expecting some solid stuff here. Not sure if its gonna be like his old jazz-piano glacier type stuff with all the runs or hes entering a new era after his like 5+ year return to monstercat in November of 2023
Very unique stuff man, right off the bat he puts a big focus on the instrumentals
then the midsection has some great licks and fills with the piano
Love the 2nd drop here with the piano lead, feels very natural, fluid, liquidy
Classic haywre stuff, tho I will admit its a bit bland and repetitive for me, there's no uplifting melodic lift like his other songs. It's very laid back straightforward.
Not to say it's a bad song, but this is in my rotation very hesitantly. It might just make one oc playlist and not the next. The vocals are really the ticket here.

1/26 = 21 - Audien, Jason Ross

Audien and Jason Ross are some respectable producers who's made some hits. I'm not sure what to expect
This drop is really good and the build-up. The verse also has a unique progression with unique lines and notes.
Very catchy vocals in the build-up, that's pretty much what won my heart for this song. I love how they milked the vocals too with even a triplet variation, I love that about it, you actually feel satisfied cuz they play that catchy line so much. The synth break is kinda mid but just the overall catchiness of the vocals that layer on it just take everything away from it.
So yeah this is going into my rotation, not sure if it's like "elite" caliber but it's def rly solid.

Other notable releases:

- 21 Savage - American Dream

- Kali Uchis - Orquideas

- Ophelia Records - Ophelia Presents: Advent Volume 8

Top 5

There's the final ranking with Bzrp topping the chart. Worth noting that there's a big gap between #1 and #2, as it's like ABSOLUTE FIRE vs. solid somewhat elite stuff. SO yeah through this ranking you can see that there's not much stellar stuff being put out this month. There's a new Madeon song coming shortly on 2/1 which I'm very excited for as it's his only 2024 release and also just cuz it's Madeon. See you next month!

Lyric(s) of the Post:

Ahora no significa que yo voy a cambiar
No, no significa que yo dejo de ser normal
Puede que antisocial

YOUNG MIKO || BZRP Music Sessions #58

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