Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week's Best New Tracks From Logic1000, Ahadadream, Priya Ragu & Skrillex, Justice & More

This week in dance music: Australian dance festival Rabbit Eats Lettuce announced it will be the first event in Australian history to offer on-site pill testing, Coachella will debut a new stage for extended dance sets called Quasar at the festival next month and Illenium — who's on its current cover Advertising sign — was announced amid a massive lineup for Summerfest 2024.

And these are the best new dance tracks of the week.

logic1000, Mother

There is dance music to dance to, and there is dance music to live. The debut album from Logic1000, Mother, delivers both. Via Because Music, the 12-track LP opens with “From Within,” a lush, cerebral slice of lDM made of clean breakbeat and gently pulsating synth that's utterly deep, subtle, and fit for a warm Friday night on the couch. Elsewhere, the Australian-born, Berlin-based producer, born Samantha Poulter, gets the blood pumping with club-ready tracks like the stylish, sophisticated 'Side by Side'. Overall, the project is a tribute to Poulter becoming a mother (she and her husband, fellow producer Tom McAlister, welcomed a daughter in 2022) and all the depth, nuance, excitement and reflection that comes with it.

“If hearing the story of my transformation during motherhood inspires anyone to look deep within themselves and think about how they want to grow and transform,” Poulter said recently. Advertising sign“that will make this album a success for me.”

Da Killa Cakes, Black sheep

Over three albums dating back eight years, New York's Cakes Da Killa have cultivated a flow best described as undeniable. That signature vocal prowess and lyrical exuberance dominate his latest LP, Black sheep, produced in collaboration with Cakes' longtime collaborator Sam Katz and released via Tokimonsta's Young Art Record. The album contains previously released dancefloor fire, including “Mindreader” and the Rochelle Jordan collaboration “Do Dat Baby”. Meanwhile, brand new 'Make Me Ovah' finds the modern courtier at his most cool and confident, singing about flights to Brazil and 'walking straight through the gate, cause I'm worth the inches'. For example, Cakes are currently on tour in Australia, Korea and China.

Justice feat. Miguel, “Saturnine”

Following their appearance in both slightly psychedelic and physical beats on previously released singles from their upcoming release Hyperdrama, Justice goes into hazy, slow burn mode on “Saturnine,” a collaboration with the ever-silky-voiced Miguel. Made up of waves of synth guitar, pounding percussion and a cheeky chime, the track finds the duo at their most playful.

“We don't think we've ever done anything remotely like this piece before,” the pair, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, said in a statement. “It started with Gaspard playing with an E-mu synth guitar sound and he came up with the main riff. The rest came very quickly. We love Miguel's voice when it's raw. We wanted him to sound extremely frontal, with no space around his voice. We felt confident that we could make this work with just one mono take of his voice and minimal editing. It also fit the theme of the song, which is fear and loathing in Las Vegas sweaty, hallucinatory flow. I feel good when I feel bad.”

Talking to me Advertising sign at SXSW in Austin last week, the duo confirmed they will be touring North America behind the album, with dates to be announced. They also added a second show at the Accor Arena in Paris in December after the first sold out in a flash.

Seven Lions & ILLENIUM feat. ÁSDÍS, “Not even love”

Illenium and Seven Lions reunite for their first collaboration in eight years, 'Not Even Love'. Having made its live debut during Seven Lion's surprise Illenium's Trilogy show at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium last month, the track is a smooth hybrid of Seven Lions' more trance-like impulses and Illenium's future bass, with vocals from Iceland. , Berlin-based singer ÁSDÍS turns emotion into anthem. The track is Illenium's first single of 2024, with collaborations with REZZ, Tiësto, Mike Shinoda and more also forthcoming. Meanwhile, Seven Lions are playing the Ultra Music festival in Miami this weekend.

Ahadadream, Priya Ragu & Skrillex, “TAKA”

British-Pakistani producer Ahadadream and Tamil-Swiss artist Priya Ragu link up with Skrillex for the unmistakable 'TAKA'. Recorded in London a few years ago and previewed during Ahadadream's Boiler Room debut last September – a show where Skrillex materialized as if out of nowhere when playing the song – the track combines warm waves of synth, lyrics that pay tribute tribute to South Asian culture by Ragu such as “Chin Mudras up/ Take off, levitate/ It's a vibe, it's a vibe/ Let the dhol demonstrate”, plenty of hand percussion and an overall extremely dazzling atmosphere.

Ragu is currently on tour in the US, while Ahadadream plays The Do Lab stage at Coachella next month and Skrillex makes his only US festival appearance in North America this summer at Lightning In a Bottle in May. Meanwhile, “TAKA” is out via Major Recordings and FFRR.

SIDEPIECE & San Pacho, “Taka”

Oops, what? Yes, indeed, two dance tracks named 'Taka' are out today. Why; We're not sure. While Skrillex and crew's song has a South Asian influence, SIDEPIECE and Croatian producer San Pacho deliver a Latin-leaning, techno-oriented track, with the song equipped with horns, hand-held percussion and a male voice echoing the fast-paced song title.

Moby feat. Lady Blackbird “dark days”

Earlier this week, Moby announced his 22nd (!) studio album, Always downtown at night, with the news coming alongside his latest single, 'dark days'. A collaboration with jazz and soul singer Lady Blackbird, the track puts her rich, deeply human voice over production that combines scintillating percussion and bass, the whole thing exuding Moby's same balance of beauty and doom. Always downtown at night features collaborations with 13 different artists and arrives on June 13th via Moby's eponymous label. The artist will also play five European shows this September to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his era-defining album, I am playing.