Hu-Sane - Top 10 Picks Of The Year

Anyone that knows me, knows I absolutely LOVE a pop girlie. Caroline has cemented herself as one of the most exciting around. The entire album doesn’t have a bad track on it and showcases that Caroline can write a bloody song and sing!

Windswept is one of my favourite jungle tracks in a long time. It’s that heavily filtered Oud (I think!) with the modern drum build up pattern just makes me lose my shit whenever it hits the break patterns. Both tracks feel so heavy embedded into 90s jungle while also taking modern takes from the new era of jungle and D&B. Obsessed!

Burna is on fire. He has yet to release anything less than stellar. I’ve decided to put Ritmo Das Vielas as my favourite of this year because I love the early 2000s grime bass and pads paired with the bailie funk drum patterns.

The story around this album is heartfelt and when you pair it with the minimal, atmospheric sound design it makes it an incredibly emotive electronic record. I play at least one song whenever I am asked to play heavier sets. My favourite track – the title track itself – with its intense and urgent atmosphere paired with a minimal drum design and operatic crescendo makes for unsettling and comforting listening all the same.

The drums on Packet Loss is absolutely unreal. The chaotic textures in each track, yet carefully thought-out sound design has made this, in my opinion, one of the most underrated crossover records of the year. Airplane Mode is also the track that I feel like helped me bond with other DJs when stepping out of the booth lol.

A Continuation of Chaal Pt. 1, this feels much darker and stronger overall. It takes the heavy South Asian influences and magnifies them with heavier basslines. The entire EP sounds like it was born in a dark sweaty nightclub. Holloway Road feels like one of those true breakthrough tracks.

I can’t say I feature a lot of Kettama’s music in my sets, but this EP is honestly stunning production wise. Fly Away XTC is completely euphoric in that build up. I always think about how this feels for the people that like to get on it in the nightclub and how it must feel like they’re on a different plane when this comes on!

Been waiting for Sampha’s second album for over 6 years and Lahai didn’t disappoint. I first heard this in my pals flat on vinyl while we applied for jobs in silence, and it felt like a core memory had been made. Light, hopeful and still absolutely well worth the wait.

Shygirl has been a feature of my sets from my commercial nightclub days where I would freak people out with Uckers. Watching Shygirl’s journey to this deluxe release of the Nymph album has been fascinating. I think Nymph_o is better than the original with some collaborations and sound design that elevated everything to an even higher level than it was before.

This EP has been a heavy feature in any warm-up sets I’ve been doing. Such a beautiful EP. So minimal and rhythmic at the same time. Favourite track is Hazzeh!

The only track on my list as I’ve always been a bit of an EP/Album person, but I couldn’t resist as this track absolutely goes off! I think this might be my favourite cohesive song of the year. Clearly inspired by the Dutch hardcore Sevdaliza grew up surrounded by. That bass/drum combination is epic with those hyper-pop autotune vocals. I’m absolutely in love!