I went to the Fuji Rock Festival for Saturday and danced to Romy’s DJ and TSHA live sets. ROMY performed the 1990s trance throughout the set, which I previously mentioned in this series “Floor Essence,” and closed with a special version of Ferry Corsten’s “Out Of The Blue” mixed with vocals from her new song “LoveHer.” The moment saw huge enthusiasm from the audience, and the late-night RED MARQUEE stage turned into the happiest party ever. Let’s walk through the music scene of Romy’s generation to get a glimpse of the background of today’s dance beats and the atmosphere of the club music scene.
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Pioneers seeking out new beats in the heyday of EDM
ROMY debuted as The xx in 2009, just as EDM began to boom worldwide, and it was the heyday of flashy festival-ready tracks. Many DJs started to shift their focus from clubs to festivals. The response, especially in the US, was so positive that flashy festival-spec tracks became a worldwide trend. I have to admit it affected how the audience moved. The festival-spec groove, in which people reacted with only their upper body watching the performance rather than dancing, became the norm.
Meanwhile, various underground experiments with beats, mainly grime, and dubstep, took place in the UK. Although many DJs and artists began actively working to create serious and new styles of music that moved between club floors and bedrooms, Burial was a pioneer. Followed by Four Tet and Jon Hopkins, and then The xx debuted. Even if they do not necessarily focus on the dance floor, they have certainly inherited the DNA of the dance scene, and their generation is leading the front line of the current UK dance scene. Bonobo, for example, which came out of the downtempo and left field, has been enthusiastically accepted on the floor, proving that the current scene is becoming freer from the constraints of beats and tempos.
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Bicep has been the biggest game changer in the recent dance music scene
The most remarkable artist is Bicep from Belfast, Northern Ireland. I would like you to take a look at this video first.
Meanwhile, various underground experiments with beats, mainly grime, and dubstep, took place in the UK. Although many DJs and artists began actively working to create serious and new styles of music that moved between club floors and bedrooms, Burial was a pioneer. Followed by Four Tet and Jon Hopkins, and then The xx debuted. Even if they do not necessarily focus on the dance floor, they have certainly inherited the DNA of the dance scene, and their generation is leading the front line of the current UK dance scene. Bonobo, for example, which came out of the downtempo and left field, has been enthusiastically accepted on the floor, proving that the current scene is becoming freer from the constraints of beats and tempos.
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The current hottest artist Fred Again..
And the hottest artist right now is Fred Again…, the producer of Romy’s album due in September. You can check his work on the previously released singles “Lifetime” and “Strong.”
Fred Again.. started his career as an assistant for Brian Eno and gained attention when he succeeded in producing for George Ezra and Rita Ora. I came across his name through the single “Lights Out” featuring Romy and HAAi. I immediately checked out his album “Actual Life 2”.
The album is a concept album based on his diary life and the music he listened to during the pandemic. One of the songs was “Your Loving Arms,” a hit by Electribe 101’s singer Billie Ray Martin, formerly titled “Billie. The album is his unique pop music based on dance beats, but it’s well crafted. Like “Billie,” it has a 1990s flavor throughout. He approaches dance from the pop field with his musical background that caught Brian Eno’s eye. This video must be enough to prove that.
Last February, Fred Again.., Four Tet, and Skrillex sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City. This party represented how the current scene is fun and works.
Several videos posted on Youtube captured the back-to-back set mixed with underground, pop, and top and the outrageous frenzy vibe at the venue. Fred Again.. is currently on a world tour, including four sold-out shows at London’s 10,000-capacity Alexandra Palace.
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Three upcoming young artists from Ninja Tune: TSHA, Jayda G, and Barry Can’t Swim
I would like to introduce some promising young artists to wrap this up. TSHA’s debut album, “Capricorn Sun,” released last fall, was a superb house album.
The album focused on house music with occasional rave beats and riffs on classic 1990s songs. TSHA is an artist of the new generation, but she also has a strong sense of the dance scene from the 1990s onward.
Then, Jayda G, who recently released an album from the same label as TSHA, Ninja Tune. She’s another artist moving freely between house and pop. Her single “Scars” from the album is a hit right now.
Another Ninja Tune DJ, Barry Can’t Swim, is a Scottish DJ emerging with his jazz and soul-influenced house. Barry Can’t Swim is another new-generation house DJ with a freestyle that defies categorization.
He is touring actively and is expected to release his debut album in October. I would really love to see a joint showcase in Japan as these three hot young artists are all in Ninja Tune.
Away from the UK, I would like to introduce dance music artists from Germany, France, and the US, all connected by a sense of humor for the next article. Enjoy summer, everyone!
