This week in dance music: the king Kaytranada released his fourth studio album Ain’t No Damn Way, a project he says is one that’s “strictly for workouts, dancing and studying and for my people that love beats.”
We caught up with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who talked about her new album and the recent renaissance of her 2001 single “Murder on the Dancefloor.” “Thanks to ‘Murder,’ I basically just wrote a wish list,” she says in the story, “and I completely took advantage of the fact that I could then get in the studio with people who maybe might not have [otherwise] had time.”
Meanwhile, disco queen Gloria Gaynor was named as one of the Kennedy Center’s 2025 honorees, a distinction that The View’s Ana Navarro urged Gaynor to turn down, writing that “the woman is a goddess and deserves all the flowers that come her way. But I wish she wouldn’t accept an award from the hands of a man who has attacked the rights and history of women, people of color and LGBTQ.”
Charli xcx praised Addison Rae in a new Billboard cover story about the latter artist, the CEO of Burning Man offered an update on the organization’s current financial picture of the event in Nevada later this month, Mau P and Seth Troxler lead the lineup for Day Zero 2026, Bob Moses announced their fourth studio album is coming this fall, Demi Lovato returned to the dance charts with her single “Fast” and Meduza, Nightmares on Wax and Booka Shade were listed on the lineup for Iceland’s Eclipse Festival happening during a total solar eclipse next August.
And finally, these are the best new dance tracks of the week.
Ape Drums & Jamiie, “111”
Major Lazer’s Ape Drums is on a hot streak, with a credit on BLACKPINK’s recent comeback single “Jump” and now the steamy collab alongside Berlin-based artist Jamiie. Together, their “111” is also pretty steamy, with the Afro-tech production containing a hypnotic appeal, along with some really innovative production elements — so make sure to listen on good headphones. Furthering its pedigree, the track, which feels luxuriously long as it clocks in at nearly four minutes, has been rinsed live by A-listers including Black Coffee, Steve Angello and Damian Lazarus.
“111” is out on VOD. Listen to it here.
TEED, “Desire/The Echo”
The artist formerly known as Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs is now officially going as TEED, an era launching with the release of a pair of new singles. The artist’s first new music since 2022, “Desire” is a moody slice of psych electro pop that pulses with longing, while “The Echo” is lush and cerebral dancefloor fare. “Making and releasing music is an act of hope,” the artist born Orlando Higginbottom says. “And hope is resistance.” To that we say, turn these up.
“Desire/The Echo” are out on Nice Age. Listen here.
Jon Casey & Peekaboo, “Go!”
South African producer Jon Casey drops his six-track EP Happy to Be Here today, with the project featuring tracks with TroyBoi, Karan! and more. A standout is the Peekaboo collab “Go!” a windy, sexy low end womper that will elicit your stankiest stank face right around the 33-second mark. The track contains the same style and slick production heard throughout the EP, which altogether further establishes Casey as one to keep your eyes and ears on. To that end, he’s got dates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Seattle through September.
Happy to Be Here is out via Monstercat. Listen to it here.
Keinemusik & Sevdaliza, “See You Again”
The gentlemen of Keinemusik link with vocal goddess Sevdaliza on “See You Again,” which made its debut during the trio’s Saturday night closing set in the Sahara Tent at Coachella this past April. The track takes it time warming up, expanding in complexity and urgency over its four and a half minutes, building to a place of warmth and depth and altogether marking a sleek evolution of the eternally vibey Keinemusik repertoire.
“See You Again” is out via Keinemusik. Listen to it here.
Riva Starr/Hyperloop, Carl Cox & Eliza Rose, “Shake the Nation”
A quartet of greats unite for the techno thumper “Shake the Nation,” a peaktime banger from Italy’s beloved Riva Starr producing here as his alter-ego Hyperloop, living legend Carl Cox and club queen Eliza Rose. Starr writes that the track came together when he and Rose linked in an East London studio and came up with “a groovy but heavy track, which I road tested in Chicago and few other places. The reaction was crazy, but I felt like the track could use a little extra oomph, so called my good friend Carl Cox to add his flavor to the song.
“Fast forward to last week at Defected Croatia, myself and Eliza linked up to premiere it live on the Beach Stage, and it went OFF” Hyperloop continues. “One of my favorite things about dance music is the collaborative element, and this song just came together so organically.”
“Shake the Nation” is out on Factory 93. Listen to it here.
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