Continuing along my recent authorship trend of resurrecting prior editorially-skewed chart-esque posts, I figured it was time to give a formal shout out to the guys in the specialized EDM vocalist gang. After releasing the first round of female vocalists (and subsequently realizing that a round 2 needed to be published at some point in the future because of the sheer depth of talent), I found I had a more tenuous time coming up with a lengthy list of guy vocalists…
This may come as no surprise to many of you, as the majority of vocal tracks tend to come packaged with an angelic or ethereal female vocal topping off the anthemic portion of many an electronic music track. However, at times a stronger, more pronounced and deeper delivery method is called for; and that’s where our big hitters listed below step up to the plate.
Ranging in styles from smooth progressive house, to a touch of electro, to the soaring synths of trance and down into the underground of collaborating with unsigned producers…these guys below definitely span the gamut of the dance music arena and thus are deserving of some kudos for their contributions to the explosion of fandom in the genre. So without further ado, here are our 10 Heavyweights in the Male Vocal EDM Clan. As always, if we overlooked your favorites…let us know!
(FYI: when possible, videos showcasing the singer are shown)
Jonathan Mendelsohn:
This NYC-born singer/songwriter should be on all of your radars, that’s for sure. Jonathan Mendelsohn has been a force in the electronic music field since 2008 when he made his vocal premiere with Wamdue Project on their classic cut “King Of My Castle”. Since then, he has been a busy bee…notching collaborations with Nic Chagall of Cosmic Gate (“This Moment”), Laidback Luke (“Till Tonight”, “Timebomb”), Marco V (“Coming Back”), Chris Kaeser(“Walking Away”), Dennis Sheperd (“Bring Me Back”), and Dash Berlin (“Better Half Of Me”, “World Falls Apart” and “Steal You Away”)…among many others. With claim to such an extensive discography and a clearly distinctive voice, it’s no wonder why Jonathan is leading off the field in this piece.
Dash Berlin feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn – “World Falls Apart”
Richard Bedford:
One cannot discuss male electronic vocalists without including British singer/songwriter Richard Bedford in the same breath. Most well-known for his collaborations with Above & Beyond throughout the years including the tracks “Alone Tonight”, “Sun & Moon”, “Thing Called Love”, Every Little Beat”, “On My Way To Heaven”, and “Black Room Boy”, he has also been featured in Armin van Buuren’s newest album Intense on “Love Never Came”. Richard possesses a full vocal range complete with his distinctive emotional and sometimes anguished vocal delivery method. With a supposed future artist album in the works along with prior writing collaborations with Dennis Sheperd and Above & Beyond in the books, we are sure to be hearing much more of Richard in the future.
Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford – “Thing Called Love”
Christian Burns:
One must give Christian Burns his due props, as it is not easy to escape the social stigma of being previously involved in a “boy band”, however Christian did just this after the British boy band BBMak broke up in 2003. Carving a niche for himself within the dance music industry, Christian was able to forge his own path separate from his prior compatriots. Beginning his dance floor success with Tiesto in 2007 on the track “In The Dark”, Christian’s soaring and emotion-infused vocal delivery quickly made him a staple in the field. Christian went on to collaborate further with Tiesto/Allure (“Power Of You”, “On The Wire”), Armin (“This Light Between Us”), Stefan Dabruck (“Bullet”), Richard Durand (“Night And Day”), Paul Oakenfold (“As We Collide”), Chicane & Ferry Corsten (“One Thousand Suns”), plus a few others. Christian is also working on a forthcoming artist album, so stay tuned.
Armin van Buuren feat. Christian Burns – “This Light Between Us”
Matthew Koma:
A relative newcomer to dance music, Matthew Koma has wasted no time acclimating himself to the scene, and helping to create great track successes in the meantime. Another NYC-based vocalist on our list, Matthew states that artists such as Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen have been inspirations of his. After beginning his career in punk rock and later transitioning to pop and hip-hop, he eventually found his way to EDM via his first collab with Alesso in 2012 with “Years”. Following that up with one of the biggest mainstream radio dance music releases in recent memory, “Spectrum” with Zedd, he also later worked with Fedde Le Grand and Nicky Romero on “Sparks (Turn Off Your Mind)”. Matthew also contributed writing credits to Zedd’s massive hit “Clarity”, showcasing his multi-talented skill sets in the process.
Zedd feat. Matthew Koma – “Spectrum” (Acoustic Version)
Inger Hansen:
You may be asking yourself: Inger Hansen, why haven’t I heard of him? Well, unless you are a fan of Balearic Trance via producer Roger Shah, it’s unlikely you would have heard much from Inger. Exclusively collaborating with Roger since 2008, Inger’s relaxing yet powerful vocal chords are married with Roger’s beachy production feels in each new release. Beginning in 2008 with “Don’t Wake Me Up” and later featured in “Breaking Waves” and “Dance With Me”, one can only hope that Inger will broaden the producers he works with, if only to allow us to hear more of his soaring and passionate vocals.
Roger Shah feat. Inger Hansen – “Dance With Me” (Club Mix)
John Martin:
Hailing from the southern suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden, John Martin Lindström began his singing career once the lead vocalist of his band quit on the spot and he subsequently took the lead, never looking back. After performing in many local venues, he was discovered by Axwell in 2010 and since went on to co-write and perform lead vocals with such massive electronic music acts as Swedish House Mafia (“Save The World”, “Don’t You Worry Child”), Avicii (“Fade Into Darkness”) and Sebastian Ingrosso & Tommy Trash (“Reload”) plus a future upcoming track with David Guetta (“Love A Little Louder” (Working Title)). Love (or not) his characteristic and dependable vocal delivery, you have to give him props for additionally contributing writing credits to a few big name producers.
Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin – “Save The World”
Chris Jones:
Another double threat, British-born singer/songwriter Chris Jones has been a presence in the electronic music world since 2008. Since beginning his music career in a rock band, and after its disbandment, Chris was contacted by producer Roger Shah via Myspace because Roger was intrigued by his voice…and thus “Going Wrong” was created in tandem with Roger Shah and Armin in 2008. Since then, Chris developed a love for trance music as shown by releases with Roger Shah (“To The Sky”, “Summer Days” and “Obsession”), Ali Wilson (“Become One”), Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren (“Starting Right Now”), Tenishia (“Memory Of A Dream”) and Chris Schweizer (“Reason”). Fun fact: after performing on Armin’s Imagine world tour, Chris and Armin’s brother Eller formed a rock band called Neverlanded.
Aly & Fila feat. Chris Jones – “Running Out Of Time”
Chris Willis:
The transition from gospel to dance music doesn’t appear as logical progression of genres…however it was a clear evolution for Dayton, Ohio born Chris Willis to make. After linking up with David Guetta in 2001, Chris helped to co-write and performed vocals on many of the tracks comprising David Guetta’s debut album Just A Little More Love. After an obvious massive start in the industry, the soul-infused notes from Chris’ pipes were lent to additional Guetta tracks (“Stay”, “Money”, “Love Is Gone”, “Getting Over You”, “Everytime We Touch”) Guetta & Tocadisco (“Tomorrow Can Wait”), Global Deejays (“Party 2 Daylight”) and Hook N Sling (“Magnet”).
David Guetta & Chris Willis – “Love Is Gone”
Chris Madin:
Following along the trend of most of the guys in this chart, Chris Madin is also a singer/songwriter (in addition to a being a Pianist) hailing from South Yorkshire in the UK. Initially breaking onto the scene under Dash Berlin’s wing in 2012 with their release of the massive track “Silence In Your Heart”, Chris then progressed to additional collabs with Coone (“Our Fairytale”), Toneshifterz (“Last Night”) Barnes & Heatcliff (“Neon Light“) and again with Dash (“Fool For Life”).
Dash Berlin feat. Chris Madin – “Silence In Your Heart”
Brenton Mattheus:
Brenton is that underground collaboration king I mentioned. He (rightfully so) has quite a large fan base already. Wielding an emotive, crawling and chord-striking vocal array, the 18 year-old from Suffolk, United Kingdom is destined for amazing things, mark my words. He has been passionate about music since age 10, and has quite the taste for a multitude of collaboration styles from SirensCeol (“Can We Survive“), Culture Code (“On My Own“), Lush & Simon (“Everlast“), Asalto (“Moment To Arise“) to countless more. Check out his SoundCloud for additional releases and keep your ear on this one.
Hellberg & Matt Prey with Brenton Mattheus – “Hope”
