Rochelle Jordan’s latest single, “Already,” is about the moment when one decides to leave a toxic relationship. It’s a moment, however difficult, that she navigates with grace and finesse. A highlight from her new album Play With the Changes (out now on Tokimonsta’s Young Art label), “Already” features Jordan’s vocals gliding over smooth deep house production — she’s cool and breezy in her delivery, as if finally emotionally detached when she tells her subject that if they were going to change for the better, it would have already happened. When she trades in her airy R&B croons for husky rap, her boss transformation feels complete.
“This song is the moment it becomes so clear to you, and you feel this sense of freedom because you know it’s actually over in your mind and heart,” Jordan says in a statement. “It takes a lot to get to this point because it’s scary to separate from what can seem strangely comfortable even if it’s literally killing your spirit.” — KRYSTAL RODRIGUEZ
Jessie Ware, “Please”
Ten months on from her excellent fourth album What’s Your Pleasure? — which topped Billboard’s best dance albums of 2020 list — club chanteuse Jessie Ware is already back with a new single. “Please,” a bright and bubbling house-pop jam, turns up the energy and the heat with rousing bursts of shakers, cascading synths and a gospel-like chorus; meanwhile, subtle crowd atmospherics teleport you to the back of a club where trysts await in the shadows. “Do you need company? Do you belong to me?” Ware inquires at a near-whisper. “Heaven’s where we’re headed,” she continues, but “if you want yours, I gotta get mine.” Part flirtation, part wishful thinking, entirely catchy. Moral of the story: Manners are sexy. “Please” is one of six new tracks included on the forthcoming What’s Your Pleasure? – The Platinum Pleasure Edition, due June 11 via PMR Records/FriendsKeep Secrets/Interscope. — K.R.
What So Not feat. DMA’s, “The Change”
If you miss the breakbeat frenetics and moody alt-rock vocal mix of turn-of-the-century electronica, Australia’s got something for you. What So Not and three-piece band DMA’s got together on a brooding piece of bass, stuffing it full of deadpan swagger and classic rave attitude. It’s “The Change” a post-Covid dance floor is ready for, cool enough to listen to in your headphones, with a heart-pulsing beat built for closed-eye club sweat session.
“I met [DMA’s guitarist Johnny Took] at their studio, a small room next to a noisy inner-city road, above a pub, with no sound insulation,” What So Not is quoted. “The first thing we made is pretty much the track you hear … I feel like this record is one the two of us have always wanted to make but never had the right pieces of the puzzle, until now.” The song is paired with an appropriately Y2K-graphic music video, and there’s more from What So Not planned in the coming months. If this is any indication of direction, we’ve got our hopes set on it. — KAT BEIN
Prospa, “Want Need Love”
UK duo Prospa — a Billboard Dance December 2019 Emerging Artist — has thus far made their name on a ’90s rave throwback sound that evokes the dank warehouses and wide JNCOs of yesteryear. Their latest, “Want Need Love,” is a decidedly different vibe, trading those hard-edged sounds for a huge, ecstatic progressive house anthem. “Want Need Love” is like being enveloped in a warm, shimmering blanket of golden light, with the extended vocals runs, peppy percussion, slow builds and big builds making us feel major anticipation for our that moment when we can all reconvene on the dance floor and sing and dance and very likely cry a lot. We imagine that mishmash of emotions will feel a lot like this song sounds. — KATIE BAIN
Bomba Estéreo, “Se Acabó”
What did you do during quarantine? You didn’t have to do anything but survive, but hopefully, you also found a little space to go inward and remind yourself what and who in your life is really important. Colombia’s Bomba Estéreo rediscovered its spiritual side too, and now, we’re all benefitting with a four-part album release, the second volume of which just dropped in the form of the three-song EP Aire.
“The album is about the connection and disconnection of human beings — from the planet, from one’s own self,” singer Li Saumet is quoted in a press release. “It’s about how we’re disconnected, more connected to electronic devices and virtual things than real things. So we decided to use the four elements, because they’re part of the equilibrium of human beings.”
Deja is the name of the full project, and each segment represents a different natural/spiritual component: Aire follows Agua, while Tierra and Fuego are still to come. Aire is traditionally the elemental representation of the mind, and these tunes celebrate freedom from one’s anxieties and fears. It’s about climbing out of your own mental prison, and closing track “Se Acabó” is the club-ready high point.” — K. Bein
Myd feat. Juan Wauters, “Whether the Weather”
Ed Banger Records is no stranger to sexy weirdo jams, and straight-faced goof Myd’s debut album Born a Loser slides right into that left-field sweet spot. Every tune on this 14-track collection — which Myd says is “ending a chapter more than opening a new one” — is delightfully danceable, even as the edges of every sample sound warped and a little day drunk. Previously-released singles set fans up for the good time, and fan-favorite “The Sun” makes an appearance, but the yet-unheard tracks are just as wobbly and wonderful.
Do yourself a favor and listen to the Heavy D samplin’ “Now That We Found Love,” and a special shout out to “It’s About You” for finding a funky way to address America’s racist underbelly. If you’re looking for a good sample track, “Whether the Weather” — a high point of Born a Loser’s indie dance-pop style — features Uruguayan singer Juan Wauters, who typifies the sonic experimentation, with the song’s pulsing house beat giving way to Wuaters’ hazy folk guitar and vocals. — K. Bein
Sidepiece, “Acrobatic”
There’s a space where deep house meets tech house meets we-don’t-actually-care-what-it-is-we-just-like-it. “Acrobatic,” the latest from Sidepiece, hits that genre-colliding sweet spot. The duo — composed of producers Nitti Gritti and Party Favor — just let the fun rip wide open on this one, mashing together beats and whistles and other doodads and flourishes with frantic builds and those thick AF walls of synth that make tech house make us feel like we’re being knocked over the head in the best possible way. One of tracks the duo made together and a frequent track ID request during sets, the song is finally out via Insomniac Records. Sidepiece is also playing at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater with on May 12-13 with Diplo, with whom they also scored a 2021 Grammy nomination with for the collaborative single “On My Mind.” — K. Bain
