Friday Dance Music Guide: The Week’s Best New Tracks From Jamie xx & Erykah Badu, Anotr & More
This week in dance music: Jim Barron and Chris Todd of Crazy P reflected on the band’s new album and recent loss of its frontwoman Danielle Moore, a new track from Marshmello and The Jonas Brothers debuted on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Peggy Gou, John Summit, Solomun and more were announced as openers for the final four shows from Anyma at Sphere, Charli XCX remarked that she “wasn’t even on the Grammys’ radar” before her chart-smashing Brat, Shygirl was among our LGBTQ+ artists to watch in 2025, and after two years off, Dirtybird Campout announced that it’s returning in partnership with NorCal’s longstanding Northern Nights festival.
And beyond, all we need is music. Sweet sweet music. These are the best new dance tracks of the week.
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Jamie xx feat. Erykah Badu, “F.U.”
Having worked on recordings of Gil-Scott Heron, Robyn and Radiohead, collaborating with bonafide legends is not unusual for James Smith, aka Jamie xx. On “F.U”, the British producer teams up with the first lady of neo-soul, Erykah Badu, using a “fully improvised” freestyle vocal recording of Badu from “a Primavera afterparty in Barcelona” in 2019, says Smith in an Instagram post. A departure from Badu’s traditionally emotional, expressive vocals, we hear her rhyming and bellowing over a loose acid house beat with a tension designed for dancing. The music video for “F.U” dropped in line with the release of In Waves (Deluxe Edition) on 29 January, on which the single is featured. “I’m so happy that she is a part of In Waves,” adds Smith. “Thank you, Erykah!”
Gryffin x Kaskade feat. Nu-La, “In My Head”
Channeling the fashionable sound of his collaborator and fellow Illini John Summit, the venerable Kaskade partners up with California’s Gryffin and nu-comer vocalist Nu La for another uplifting melodic techno ballad. The dramatic, emotional build-up of “In My Head” is heightened by Nu La’s soaring vocal, which sings “When you’re gone / You’re still living in my head” before we’re hit with a thumping kick, a growling bassline and piercing synth lead. Released on 10K Projects, “In My Head” follows a handful of tongue-in-cheek TikToks and IG snaps from Gryffin and Kaskade in the studio, letting fans know that, despite the intensity of “In My Head,” the duo still seem to be having a blast together.
Whipped Cream, Careline
The Canadian producer releases her new EP Careline, a six song affair that includes a trio of previously released singles (including the Memba collab “Redline”) and altogether demonstrates a dark, sleek evolution for the artist born Caroline Cecil. Standouts include “Love the Night Away,” a luscious and glimmering peaktime production with airy vocals and a galloping hard techno flourish. “A year and a half ago, I realized I was sitting on a whole world of house and techno tracks,” the producer writes of he project. “I had this vision — Careline, a secret side project, a new alias. But when I wrapped the first master, it hit me… Careline wasn’t separate from Whipped Cream. —this would be the next chapter of Whipped Cream. And I’ve never been more sure of anything.” The project is out on Boom Records.
Anotr, On a Trip
“We rent a house in the middle of nowhere, surround ourselves with nature, and invite friends, family, and musicians to connect. We go for walks, make dinner, and talk a lot. The studio is always there when we feel like it, and the music comes from a place of want, not need,” Dutch duo Anotr say in a joint statement about the creation process behind their second studio album, On a Trip. As the title insinuates, the creative nature hangs were also “fueled by psilocybin mushrooms,” and you can hear the depth and brightness of that perception shifting fuel all over the project, particularly its Afro-infused track “Falling Feels Like Flying,” which is gifted with vocals from the Kabusa Oriental Choir.
Rebūke & deadmau5 feat. Ed Graves, “Endless”
The music video for Rebūke & deadmau5’s “Endless” (also featuring Ed Graves) is stunning. The “Cyberpunk 2077” videogame aesthetic impeccably complements the song’s homage to ’90s trance and techno, with its rolling bassline and gated synths — naturally, the video’s protagonist ends up in nightclub where “a transcendence occurs,” says a statement from Rebūke’s World of Era label. Following Rebūke’s 2018 remix of ‘mau5’s “Not Exactly”, the pair’s new track “Endless” marks their first true collaboration, with Rebūke’s praising his collaborator as “a constant source of inspiration.” The original fate of “Endless” was an instrumental release, until a last-minute conversation with songwriter Melissa De Kleine and Graves led to a vocal recording over the track within 12 hours. That session, says Rebuke, is what “brought the track to life.”
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