Adam Beyer continues to push Techno’s boundaries with diverse elements while staying true to the beat, with his new EP Don’t Go, out today October 11th, 2024. Picking up where he left off with previous acclaimed solo EP Ghost Kiss and his recent knockout debut Vintage Culture collaboration, the Swedish producer and Drumcode label boss delivers a two tracker of epic proportions, marked by a creative use of vocal samples and vocal processing, creating an extra layer of rampant power which can be both spacey and machine-like, yet organically human.
‘Don’t Go’
The title track kicks off with spacey elements of hoover and doppler FX, maintaining an assertive, demanding forward thrust throughout but soon becoming dominated by the vocal sample, a two-line Afro-vibe chorus of mixed voices processed as a riff, then a melody, and then building through the big breakdown into a huge drop. The call and response pattern of the sample is compulsively engaging, triumphant and incessantly hooky while lending an organic, atavistic feel skilfully enmeshed with the percussion.
‘Tool Of Thought’
It has more of a futuristic flavor this time, with a complex percussive attack of clacking beat, hissing hi-hats, metallic bass and hoover notes like sirens upping the dangerous, unsettling ambiance. Beyer’s recent experimenting with vocoders herecreates a deep, dark vocal. No chance of not dancing to this.
Not content to rest on his considerable laurels, Techno king Beyer keeps on evolving, and the responses during his current tour of major festivals worldwide make it clear that fans old and new are more than ready for this particular iteration of his brilliance.
About Adam Beyer
Adam Beyer occupies a firm position among the few Techno originators who’ve stayed at the top of their game since the ‘90s. The Swede’s three-decade career is an impressive unfurling of steadfast, future-focussed innovation and expansion. Beyer has performed at nearly every club and festival around the world multiple times, he’s the first to have racked up 100 Awakenings appearances, he’s turned in two rounds on Radio 1’s Essential Mix and an entry into Fabric’s mix series, built a vast catalogue of vital records, released under various aliases, and launched three record labels, including the gargantuan Drumcode, a world-dominating brand with a syndicated radio show, weekly show on streaming platforms and global wide events.
Beyer’s vocation kicked off as he galvanised the dawning of a new wave of European Techno in the mid-’90s with releases on Planet Rhythm Records and the iconic Drumcode imprint. Adolescent impatience spurred the launch of his label in 1996. With a vast stack of his records good to go and Beyer being eager to speed up the release process, he threw money into a venture that would sooner give his cuts a stomping ground. Drumcode would soon grow at supersonic speed with his own high-voltage material being released alongside early records from Cari Lekebusch, Joel Mull, Marco Carola, Henrik B and Hardcell.
Today there’s no bigger label or brand in Techno than Drumcode. It’s long been an entry point into the genre, ushering in millions of ravers. An impressive roster of artists features across an unbroken schedule of worldwide, sustainable events, with a high point being a two-year run of its own booming festival. The imprint has already surpassed its 250th release – a historic collaboration that had Kevin Saunderson revive his E-Dancer moniker for remix treatment. Celebrating the origins of Techno, Beyer came through once again on his commitment to respecting the sound, maintaining its integrity and pushing things forward with a diverse line-up of artists including Robert Hood, DJ Mink, Amelie Lens, Len Faki, TYGAPAW, DJ Bone, rRoxymore, Bart Skills and Layton Giordani. “Techno is more diverse than it’s been in a long time. The underground scene is thriving again. I started Drumcode as a counterculture movement, so it’s encouraging to see the energy in it – this youth punk feeling feeding back into Techno again”, Beyer says.