The whole genre of EDM progressive vocal tracks has become a bit trite, what with everyone using the same plug-ins, ideas, and (most likely) ghost producers trying to emulate hits by Zedd or Avicii. Every so often, a real musician/producer comes along and shakes up the formula with their own unique twist. If you don’t know Westfunk, he’s the British producer/DJ who prides himself on “pimping” out the tunes you love for the dance floor. On his own and together with Steve Smart, he’s remixed everyone from Rita Ora and Britney Spears to Chicane and Sander Van Doorn. On his new track Apollo, he starts with a really engaging piano intro and pretty vocals (maybe Bright Lights?) with a great emotional effect. The buildup may be a bit typical, but the main structure of the chorus is quite special. Rather than having one rhythm structure dominate the full section, there is a call-and-response of two rhythms going back and forth. He basically did twice the work of an average track and excelled with it. That he went with a big beat break instead of a dubstep one is mere icing on the cake. Since “Apollo” isn’t out for a few weeks, head over to his Facebook and satiate yourself with a few downloads of his mashups and white labels.
Image Courtesy of Katnip Records.
