CRATE Pulls of the Week

Every Friday we update CRATE with the records that don't quite belong on Condensed and probably need bigger speakers anyway. Bass music, UK garage, breaks, electro, festival weapons, late-night discoveries... if it rattles the speakers, it probably ended up here. Here are this week's favorite additions.

Shygirl – “Alyse”

“Alyse” is ostensibly about finding comfort in love when everything else feels uncertain, which sounds lovely and appropriately vulnerable until Shygirl remembers she is Shygirl and puts a beat under it capable of voiding a security deposit. Written and produced with Karma Kid and JD Reid, the track moves from cello, distorted electronics and an unusually tender vocal into something much bigger without sacrificing the softness at its center. When the beat finally drops, my brain immediately supplied the “back with another one of those block rockin’ beats” sample from the Chemical Brothers’ 1997 classic. Is that actually what it sounds like? Not particularly. Did my brain make the correct editorial decision? It did. As for the cover art, I have no explanation for the tiny skeletal Baby Groot attempting dental work, and I have decided peace comes from no longer seeking one.

NGHTMRE, Jordin Sparks – “No Air”

Anatomy 101: no air means no breathing, no breathing means death, so please, everybody, let’s keep the oxygen flowing. Therapy 101: “I don’t know how to survive” and “how do you expect me to live without you in my life?” are perhaps not the foundations of a healthy attachment style. NGHTMRE, blink twice if you’re in danger. Wait, she died twice just trying to forget you? Actually, you’re on your own. Nearly two decades after “No Air” first made melodrama sound this good, NGHTMRE rebuilds Jordin Sparks’ signature hit as bright, melodic drum & bass, wisely letting her voice carry the whole thing solo. Piano takes the pulse before a bubbly D&B rush sends the heart monitor into considerably more exciting territory, and Sparks still absolutely launches that chorus. After debuting the rework together at ILLfest and watching clips rack up more than 20 million views, they had little choice but to give us the studio version. Medically concerning. Emotionally questionable. Sonically, vital signs are excellent.

Sonny Fodera, Becky Hill – “Say Something”

Nobody involved with “Say Something” is pretending to reinvent nightlife. Sonny Fodera and Becky Hill have reunited to give us exactly what was ordered: a huge vocal, a house beat, an extremely reasonable request for better communication and approximately 4,000 vodka sodas about to be spilled by people dancing with them still in hand. Hill spends the song begging someone to simply speak while Fodera steadily raises the volume on everything except an answer. Eventually, getting your hands in the air seems considerably more productive. They already proved the formula with 2024’s “Never Be Alone,” and “Say Something” has “wait, I know every word to this” written all over it. Wear the comfy, already broken-in sneakers. Your good shoes have done nothing to deserve what’s coming.

Louis The Child, Elohim – “Wish You Were Here”

“I wish you were here.” I’m here! I’m here! Technically, we never left. KICK KICK SNARE may have spent eight years with the lights off, but Louis The Child and Elohim kept slipping under the door. Nearly a decade after they linked up on “Love Is Alive,” “Wish You Were Here” is the rare case of finding something exactly where you left it and being thrilled nobody moved it. Elohim is trying to let someone go while leaving their side of the bed conspicuously available, and Louis The Child give that indecision the same melodic electronic pulse that put them on our radar years ago. No grand reinvention required.

Julian Fijma, sawayaka - “Stay”

Consider us late to the Julian Fijma party. The Dutch producer already has roughly 650K monthly Spotify listeners, but “Stay” marks our introduction, and since part of my soul permanently belongs to the Netherlands, I’m happy to be here. sawayaka handles the vocal, while Fijma turns one song into checking what else you’ve missed. And the catch-up may be perfectly timed: “Stay” appears to be part of a four-track project arriving September 9 via Safelight Records. Fine. We’re late. Pour us something.

TOWA TEI, MERMAID - “THE SOURCE - MERMAID DUB”

Anything Towa Tei-related gets moved to the front of the line around here because Deee-Lite forever. Those are the rules. “THE SOURCE” appears on his new album ZAMBIENT, but here it gets handed over to MERMAID, an electronic project with its own history in Towa's orbit, for a three-minute dub detour. The internet offers remarkably little explanation for any of this, which may be the most Towa Tei detail of all. I'm just happy my Release Radar knew where to find me.