James Kilpin

The same environmental circumstances that influenced the album’s themes had an effect on the sound of the music that they were making together, “because of everything that was happening on the outside I think the music could only sound chaotic"

In the days leading up to the eagerly anticipated unveiling of their lineup for another year, Primavera Sound tantalised fans with a series of images and posts that had something in common – the phrase 'The New Normal'...

The demand for cashless from both organisers and fans is at an all time high. Not only is a robust cashless payment system an excellent way of creating a more convenient, more efficient, and safer event environment, it’s also something that fans and audiences have come to expect and desire.

From electronic music's earliest iterations, women have continually been at the forefront of pushing the sound to new and exciting places, shaping the scene for future generations. But perhaps now more than ever, against the current of a still male-dominated industry, we find women occupying the most exciting spaces in the dance music world as the leading lights and fiercest talents.

Lisa Mercedez isn’t totally new to all this. If you know dancehall then you’ll likely know her name already, given that she became the de-facto first lady of the London scene back in 2005 when she joined Stylo G’s Warning Crew as the sole female member. But there’s no denying that the last couple of years have seen the Jamaica-born artist take things to a whole new level…

While music festivals are obviously our main passion, quite a few of us had a close eye on the recent draw for this year's Champions League. Conversation turned to which music festivals best represent each of Europe's major players in this year's tournament; the perennial favourites, the new challengers, the big spenders. And so this piece was born.

As festival snapshots go, it's hard to think of anything that sums up Snowbombing quite as well as Artwork playing his Bavarian Oompah edit of ‘Au Seve' in a butcher's shop. His surprise set alongside Peggy Gou in the home of Mayrhofen's legendary meat-merchant Hans the Butcher was just one of many quintessentially Snowbombing moments, but it perfectly captures what the festival is all about: unapologetic silliness.

Jennifer took the time to speak to us ahead of her performance at dance music behemoth Tomorrowland, reflecting on her early forays into electronic music in the South of France, and touching on what it meant to be invited to curate Lyon festival/institution Nuits Sonores.

His latest, an LP entitled 'Daylight', takes influence from Chinese ink art, with the approach to making the album echoing the techniques involved – 'I wanted to let things happen and then organise the results'. The result is an intricately crafted album, where live music and electronic production intertwine.

While others rode the wave of popularity into the British mainstream, crafting pop bangers and scoring chart successes, Sampha took a step back, stripping things down to the basics… This didn't go unnoticed, and across the Atlantic, heads were being turned.