Those who pride themselves on their playlist-making abilities now have one more tool in their arsenal.
You can now accompany the hand-picked Spotify selections chosen by your masterful ear with a custom playlist cover to help tie the experience together. While this feature has been available on desktop for quite some time, it hadn’t been included in the mobile version of the app, for some head-scratching reason. Luckily, the process to upload a custom playlist cover from your mobile device is incredibly simple and as easy as changing the wallpaper on your phone.
Kapwing
Check out the step-by-step instructions below to add some visual flair to your playlists on Spotify.
How to Upload Custom Spotify playlist covers on your phone
Open the playlist you would like to add a custom cover to.
Tap on the three dots near the top of the screen.
Select “Edit” and then “Change Image”
Choose the image you’d like to include and you’re all set.
At the time of this article’s publishing, it’s been reported that the feature is slowly rolling out to users, so you may have to wait for your app to update.
Before COVID-19 decimated any semblance of normal, along with every expectation we had for the year, Lane 8 already had 2020 wrapped around his finger. A whole ten days into the year, before a fresh decade even had sufficient time to get off the ground, the This Never Happened mastermind had a plausible album of the year aspirant on the board with Brightest Lights. Ignoring the fact that our hyperbolized prediction of this new decade’s most esteemed project is still a little too premature to substantiate, Lane 8’s immaculate third full-length LP firmly welded a towering bar that helped handedly earn him the designation of Dancing Astronaut‘s Artist of the Year in 2020.
Lane 8, lesser known as Daniel Goldstein, was placed into a precarious position in March as uncertainty surrounding the pandemic began to mount, with more than half of his Brightest Lights tour dates having been forcibly erased from his calendar as the music industry was sent into an unprecedented limbo. Rather than simply sit around and mull over what could have potentially been, Lane 8 made the conscious decision to make up for lost time, exploiting the most out of each and every waking moment in the days, weeks, and months that would follow.
In between his customary seasonal mixtapes, each a marathon of seamlessly blended house selections, and an additional blindsiding Groundhog Day mixtape, as well as curatorial duties for his esteemed This Never Happened imprint, Lane 8 pieced together a January-to-December track record fit for the books. After letting Brightest Lights properly digest, Lane 8 began to roll out the collaborative red carpet in May for what would ultimately culminate into a mini Brightest Lights follow-up of sorts, with seven joint ventures composing the Cross Pollination tracklist—a title that has decisively set the gold standard for communal project handles. Not only would Lane 8 dilate his already considerable yearly output with the EP, but just a month later, just ahead of his hotly anticipated Fall Mixtape, Goldstein dove back into his January masterwork, assembling a wide-ranging roster of 24 artists to exhaustively reinvigorate Brightest Lights from top to bottom.
The musical facet to Lane 8’s Artist of the Year tag certainly speaks for itself, but it would be a disservice to this piece if we didn’t at least take an abbreviated moment of appreciation for Lane 8’s extraordinarily serene performance from Colorado’s Grand Lake. Standing by his lonesome for a full two hours as the sun crept up on the mountains behind him, Goldstein rattled off one blue-chip house number after the next for a virtual outing that entered him into one of several conversation surrounding the year’s most impactful electronic music attractions.
In a calendar year as unpredictable and unfortunate as 2020 has been, Lane 8 remained a bedrock of artistic consistency, spanning from the days of day-blurring monotony to the present moment, as we anxiously await his forthcoming winter mixtape. Lane 8 demonstrated an unbroken competence to outclass himself day-in-and-day-out in 2020, assuming the simultaneous roles of music producer, label head, and virtual DJ, on top of the pandemic’s pressures, making an irrefutable case to be awarded Dancing Astronaut‘s 2020 Artist of the Year.
Words by Rachel Narozniak
We saw a number of artists put together compelling campaigns for Artist of the Year in 2020, though one such artist caught our attention for a very unique reason—he completely started over from scratch. And, even behind a brand new moniker, sound, and overall artistic direction, he still managed to make a case for 2020’s Artist of the Year.
For the past 12 years, the name Adam Wiles was synonymous only with Calvin Harris, but in year 13, that changed—and quite memorably—with the birth of Love Regenerator. Harris’ work can be traced back to 2007’s Acceptable In The 80s EP. From I Created Disco (2007), Ready For The Weekend (2009), 18 Months (2012), Motion (2014), and Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 (2017), with a total of the five Grammy nominations, clearly Calvin Harris is one of the most successful projects ever brought to life in the electronic context. With the breadth of Calvin Harris’ success considered, the January 20 announcement stating a new project was underway came as a surprise, to say the least.
What emerged was Love Regenerator, a decisive sidestep of the dance pop, electro pop, and house that colored Harris’ career in favor of a “1991 time capsule” of sound. Summarizing Love Regenerator as an amalgamation of the “early rave, breaks, techno, and house” that he grew up on, Wiles’ Love Regenerator 1 EP and its contemporaries gave a galvanizing glimpse of what was to come—and, to Wiles’ credit—illustrated that Calvin Harris was merely one gateway to Wiles’ sonic invention.
Through Wiles’ conception of one of the most focused and agile projects we saw this year, his listeners gained a much more comprehensive portrait of his influences, sensibilities, and capacities. For his fateful choice to step beyond the boundaries of Calvin Harris—a move that many producers of commensurate stature might not make—and the dexterity and originality of the house and techno that resulted, Love Regenerator is the recipient of a much-deserved honorable mention for 2020 Artist of the Year.
Featured image: Fixation Photography
Tags: Artist of the Year, Brightest Lights, calvin harris, eoy, house, Lane 8, Love Regenerator, techno, this never happened
Moses Sumney has teamed up with Little Dragon for a crooning new collaborative single ‘The Other Lover’ – listen to it below.
The track is built around a soulful arrangement typical of the latter Swedish crew, punctuated by French horn, while Sumney’s glassy falsetto pipes in and out.
READ MORE: Moses Sumney on resisting definition and new album ‘græ’: “My identity is a kind of patchwork”
In press statements, both Sumney and Little Dragon expressed their admiration for each others’ work.
“I’ve been listening to Little Dragon for a very long time; as a teen, their first album impressed upon me just how infinite modern soul music can be,” Sumney said.
“When they asked me to collaborate I was so honored and surprised (‘shook,’ as the kids say), that it took me a while to come around. They worked with me, egoless, to craft a new vision for their song. I’m proud of what we came up with.”
Little Dragon added that they didn’t know what to expect when they reached out to Sumney.
“What we received was very stripped down, with his beautiful voice. We jammed along and sent it back. It bounced back from his end with added horns and sounded beautiful to our ears. We are very proud of this,” they said.
Sumney released the double album ‘græ’ in two parts, with the first half landing in February this year. He followed up with part two in May, completing the album.
A review by NME awarded the record four stars, calling it a “complex two-part double album” that “defies boundaries and genre”.
“Nothing is straightforward on this intimate, soul-searching record, which veers from jazz to art-pop, the form matching the message that life contains multitudes,” said NME.
Little Dragon released their sixth album ‘New Me, Same Us’ in March. A NME review awarded it three stars, writing that it featured “dazzling, unhinged moments that are worth fighting over – but a frustrating complacency, too”.
We often think of EDM and dance music as being a fairly young genre, which, it is. But, dance music has been raiding the pop charts for a long time. Today, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of a seminal dance/pop crossover hit, “We No Speak Americano” by Australian duo Yolando Be Cool.
I vividly remember the song being all over the radio, constantly (streaming wasn’t the behemoth then that it is now.) For me, it was certainly not like anything I’d ever heard; those bouncy horns, the quirky Italian sample. It was also a great way for an American audience to get exposed to more club oriented sounds. “We No Speak Americano” actually peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 back then, but it was an even bigger success internationally, reaching #1 across Europe and Latin America. Needless, to say, the Australian duo of Andy Stanley and Matt Handley ended up achieving way more success than they ever could have imagined.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of “We No Speak Americano,” the boys are releasing a special EP featuring a special edit of the track by Yolanda Be Cool and original collaborator DCup. There are also top notch edits from Sllash & Doppe, Chemical Surf and JAXX DA FISHWORKS. We got the chance to sit down and have a lovely chat with Yolanda Be Cool. They reflected on how the international smash hit impacted their careers, their takes on the music scene now, their passion for music and quarantine activities.
Hey Andrew and Matt! Thanks so much for chatting with us, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of your breakout single “We No Speak Americano” Can you reflect on the past 10 years and how your music career changed after that song was released.
A: “As you said, it was the breakout single, things sort of haven’t been the same since, in a good way. We’ve got to travel the world, play fun parties, and most importantly, make awesome friends, all around the world. It’s allowed us to pursue our dreams of making music during the day and playing shows at night. So, that’s how it changed, we were sort of doing that beforehand, but just a lot less planes and hotels and countries, and stamps on the passport.”
M: “It makes you feel old, if you think now, if you’re 20, you were 10 when it came out. Big ups, maybe the 10 year olds are now 20 and are hearing it for the first time.”
A: “They’ve been hearing it in the kid’s movies, like Madagascar, Peter Rabbit. It’s been in all those ones, you just hear it, it’s funny.”
How did you guys approach releasing songs after that? I’m sure you knew it would be tough to top that, maybe you didn’t want to. What was the approach?
M: “I think, honestly, we definitely struggled, probably for a year, because we didn’t ever plan to have a song getting played after Britney Spears. And, even with DJ gigs, some gigs we’d get booked, and people would be all, oh, if you make a song that’s commercial then you play commercial. But, we were never really trying to make commercial music, and therefore we were never really playing commercial music. So I guess when that song happened there was a bit of pressure to try and do the same thing again. So, I definitely think it took a few years to get our groove back after that, because it was hard trying to have follow ups to that, and it was definitely a bit of a weird time, but we feel good about it now.”
Tell us how you guys originally got started making dance music and what keeps you going?
A: “I thought about this the other day. Matty and I always say that we’re DJs first (here are all of my vinyls), I think that’s been one of our advantages. If you’re a DJ, you’re a people person, you can look around the room, you can see this person over there, they need to get up. Or this song has been playing and the majority of the people like that, so I’m going to go on this tip, it’s almost a entertain and educate type thing. Obviously we wanted to make some mashups and you start experimenting, you know, I found this acapella and it would sound good over this beat. So, you do that so you have something fresh for your set that no one else had. And then that sort of just led into production. So, we weren’t the type of people that were studio nerds that just knew how to make amazing music, but then would get to a MIDI controller and just figure out they couldn’t DJ. So that was sort of our progression to the whole thing, DJ, mashups, and then bootlegs, and then, hold on, we can try and get an original vocal here, or we should try and be that sample. And then edits into original productions, that’s sort of how it went for us.”
What’s your take on the state of dance music in general?
M: “I feel like it’s really good. I feel like, with the internet, which has obviously been around a long time now, just the fact that it’s so easy to have access to everything now. It’s like every single sub-genre can find it’s audience, whether or not that audience is spread across 100 countries or condensed into one city. I think the internet enables people to find exactly what they like and run with it. I guess it also gives people exposure, things like back in the day, you needed to have a major record label, you needed to be on a major radio station for people to hear your music. Whereas now, you can make a song on your shitty secondhand laptop on pirated software and put it up on the internet, and it could potentially be a number one! Not that we did that, but we weren’t that far off.”
A: “To that question, I remember the last time we played EDC, we finished our set, which was super fun, it was awesome, we went back and had some shots of tequila, we walked around and we were at the main stage. Matty and I are open to all kinds of music, but there was stuff that was like complextro, crazy sounds, I’m sure it’s super difficult to make, and the kids were loving that! So I was like that’s cool, and then just a short walk away we were rocking out to the Martinez Brothers in another spot. I was like, man, dance music is for everyone. I was appreciating watching all of those kids going crazy to, it was some pretty outrageous sounds. Martin Garrix was on there as well, who we’re friends with and respect. And then we found our little pocket tucked away and that was super cool as well. I reckon there’s something for everyone right now which is good, it can even be pop. Skrillex and Diplo have merged really cool underground sounds, but, chuck Bieber to the top and you’ve got a smash hit. Dance music has really hit its stride.”
Obviously this year has sucked, what have you guys been doing in 2020, and how have you stayed positive during quarantine?
M: “I’ve been in my little neighborhood, I’ve got a beautiful little area, the beach is really close. I’ve got my studio, and my backyard, and my dog, and my girlfriend, and the internet. And that’s pretty much been me, just alternating between working on tunes and working on stuff for the label. We both meditate twice a day, so that’s definitely helped the sanity and the positivity. The weather’s always pretty good in Southern California. It sucks I can’t get back to Aus to see my family and friends, potentially even do gigs like Andy’s about to do. I think I’ve been pretty sweet.”
A: “At the start it was a novelty, we don’t have to go to work, we stayed home, I got to homeschool my children, stuff like that, we hit the studio, we were having fun, but then it sort of got dragged on a bit. But we always decided, let’s just pretend in the studio, let’s go full steam ahead, so we can have a full release calendar, probably just as much as any other year, we’ve shot video clips, we just want to keep going, put stuff out for whoever wants to hear it. And then hopefully when the restrictions ease, and the borders open up and when the flights fly again, we’re ready to rock, we’re ready to go, that’s sort of how it’s been for us.”
What can fans look forward to in 2021 from you?
M: “Just lots of tunes I guess. We’re going to try and do some more stuff with DCup, which is going to be fun because we haven’t done anything with him. We have a tune with Noizu, we got lots of other stuff, we’ve got another EP for Melii’s label, we just did one which we really enjoyed. And hopefully we’ll get to hang out together and do some shows. This is the first time I haven’t been home for Christmas. So, hopefully we get to tour and play parties, and swim in the ocean, hug people, that kind of stuff.”
A: “We’ve got a bank of music that we’ve been working on that we’ve got to finish off. Some club stuff, maybe some more radio stuff, we’re just going full steam like I said before and hopefully do some shows when we can.”
Ten years removed from a massive international hit, how do you guys view yourselves and what’s your place in the music sphere in 2020?
M: “I feel like we feel like our best is yet to come, which maybe sounds funny given that we had a big hit 10 years ago. But, maybe that hit, in some ways, came earlier than it should have in our careers. And I feel like now, we’ve sort of built ourselves up, ironically, in a way that we’re kind of ready to do it again. We’re just still really excited about jumping in the studio and seeing what could happen. We surprise ourselves with what could come out, we’re really inspired by young people and old people. We’re as enthusiastic now as we were 10 years ago, but we’re probably smarter. We probably don’t go to as many after-parties, but we’re definitely down to go to some. And we haven’t had an argument in so many years, pretty much since we started meditating. Whereas, I think in the early years, when we were touring non-stop and really tired and really hungover, we definitely had some disagreements. Including trying to rip USBs out. So, I’d like to think we’re better versions.”
A: “I think that was all correct. Music is one of the best things in the world, making it makes us happy, and meeting other people that share that same passion and we get along with is the best thing ever. We’ve got homies, London, San Francisco, LA, anywhere around the world you can just land and you’ve got a little family there, it’s honestly so special. It can just be a little Instagram or What’s App, whatever, and you’re straight away, back into homie land. That’s the sad thing about this Covid, you haven’t seen anyone in a long time. We all share the same passion and the froth levels are high.”
Any dream collabs?
M: “I’d love to do a session with Armand Van Helden for sure.”
Any words for the fans?
A: “Thanks for all your support over the years, and hope you dig the new 10 year anniversary of ‘We No Speak Americano.’ We’ve waited 10 years to bring it back, but I think it could be a bit of fun. I’m sorry.”
M: “Hopefully this version doesn’t become as annoying as the last.”
Check out the special 10th Anniversary commemorative EP of Yolanda Be Cool & DCup’s “We No Speak Americano” out now on Sweat it Out. Check out their latest Insomniac live stream as well!
Chances are if you’ve been on the internet in the past week, you’ve been bombarded with talk about Cyberpunk 2077. Not only was it one of the most anticipated video game releases of all-time, but to the delight of EDM.com readers, it also leans heavily on electronic music culture. Considering the game’s futuristic setting, it just makes sense to include the sounds of Grimes, Nina Kraviz, BoysNoize, and more.
For the music producers out there, the popular sample marketplace Splice has released a cheeky how-to video inspired by the game. The tutorial is styled like the setting of the action RPG and was developed so the viewer feels as if they are being taught by one of its characters. Using the samples provided in the description of the video by Splice, those with the appropriate software can follow along and create a song that sounds like its from the year 2077.
Check out Splice’s futuristic how-to video—shared from their YouTube channel—below and learn how to make the perfect song for your adventures with Keanu.
Soak in the wonderfully ethereal and moving work of British pop artist Blakey. The UK newcomer’s brand-new single ‘If I Go‘ is a dreamy electro pop number, full of celestial vibes and delightful melodies. And it’s Denis First’s rendition of the original that builds on Blakey’s universal appeal with a decidedly vibe-y adaptation. A melodic house remix through and through, Denis’s remix bolsters Blakey’s voice and verses with a subtle progressive build and a bouncy breakdown. An easy listen, “If I Go” already had its fair share of sing-a-long worthy hooks, now made more infectious with First’s bustling instrumentals and genre defiant style. This one is an instant hit.
Daine has posted a fantastic new set of visuals for her song ‘Bloody Knees‘ – watch below.
The Melbourne artist – who gave her fans an early Christmas present last week with the long-awaited song’s official release – has now unveiled its fantasy-inspired music video.
Oliver van der Lugt directed the clip and Daine herself designed the imaginary world.
Watch the music video for ‘Bloody Knees’ below:
After an unofficial ‘nitecore’ version of the song accumulated traction on the artist’s Soundcloud, the official release – and final single from Daine of the year – has seen her polish the song off with crisp production courtesy of regular collaborator Circle Pitt.
‘Bloody Knees’ is the latest of several releases this year by the rising 18-year-old. She kicked off 2020, and the Daine project, in April with the release of her debut single ‘Picking Flowers’.
After releasing a collaboration with New York-based artist ppgcasper titled ‘Crash In The Lake’, she followed that up with her second solo single ‘My Way Out’.
Last month, the artist wrapped up the release of her double A-side ‘Ascension/Angel Numbers’, which featured production by Danny L Harle and Australia’s Lonelyspeck.
Charli XCX is a fan of Daine. In September, she tweeted a link to the ‘nitecore’ version of ‘Bloody Knees’, writing: “if you like my music u will like this”.
Speaking to The Fader about her debut single back in May, Daine said she was “writing riffs in my bedroom trying to figure out what to do with myself amidst a breakup early 2019”.
“‘Picking Flowers’ is like a haunting distant memory to me, but nostalgic and special in that it was one of the first songs that I ever recorded.”
Back in April, SLANDER teamed up with WilliamBlackto release their emotive collaboration “Back To U,” quickly garnering million streams across platforms. The two renowned dance music acts have now tapped a bevy of producers to remix the soaring track.
After dropping the curtain on the remixes in sets at Ultra Taiwan and SLANDER’S own Virtual Vibes Music Festival, it did not take long for these IDs to be sought after by their avid fans. Spanning five reworks, the EP features new cuts from Matrix & Futurebound, Fairlane, ControlFreak, Mazare, and Topi.
Control Freak’s edit was first teased at Virtual Vibes in October on SLANDER’s epic Medusa head stage. After the velvety vocals are introduced, you can feel the ominous fog of heavy bass coming as the tension builds, which culminates in a drop that any basshead would enjoy. Matrix & Futurebound’s remix was teased in November at Ultra Taiwan, and it features a kinetic, rhythmic drum and bass cadence that floats through the arrangement with a melodic tinge.
Fairlane’s lighthearted take boasts soft guitar plucks in a bubbly future pop twist, and Mazare picks up the tempo to breathe new life into “Back To U” with a euphoric future bass rendition. In the second verse, a subtle percussion tap brings the (virtual) dance floor back to its feet before concluding with a frenetic drum & bass finisher. To wrap up the pack, Topi interjects with a set of synths that lead into a sinister vibe, spilling out with an anthemic flair. Like magic, he switches things up in the break with an acoustic guitar that leads into a room-filling plume of synths.
You can listen to each of these masterpieces below and stream the full bundle here.
Having made a name for herself through distinct vocals and emotive songwriting, Anabel Englund has delivered her debut full-length album, Messing with Magic. The 10-track effort features a vibrant collection of emotion-tinged songs that include collaborations with heavy-hitting artists such as MK, Amtrac, Jamie Jones, and more.
Although Englund’s electronic leaning sound has been frequently celebrated, the album sees her depart from more elaborate production backdrops, exploring a new side to her artistry with stripped-down tracks like “Burn It.” MK also makes two appearances throughout the album, assisting on club rework of “So Hot” and original production “Underwater.”
Messing with Magic is out now via AREA10/Ultra Records.
Tyler caught wind of the performance and took to Twitter on Friday (December 11) to share her thoughts. “Hearing Miley singing ‘It’s a Heartache’ has honestly made my day!” she wrote.
She added: “I would LOVE to duet with you some time Miley Cyrus.”
Cyrus responded: “Not sure there’s an artist I’ve listened to more than I have you. You’ve made me feel heard since I was a little raspy voiced girl. Love love love that!”
Not sure there’s an artist I’ve listened to more than I have you. You’ve made me feel heard since I was a little raspy voiced girl. Love love love that! https://t.co/VchkAoJqNQ
Elsewhere during her appearance on Released, Cyrus revealed that she’s already started work on her next album.
“I know I just had a record come out – ‘Plastic Hearts’ – but, I’m already working on the next one,” Cyrus said, before going on to list some artists and the songs that are inspiring her music right now.
These include: Stevie Nicks‘ ‘Wild Heart’, Morrissey‘s ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’, Joan Jett‘s ‘Black Leather’ and The Jesus And Mary Chain‘s ‘Just Like Honey’.
Earlier this month, Cyrus opened up about the “trauma” she experienced following intense media scrutiny over her body – something which she says began in her teens.
In a recent cover interview with Rolling Stone, Cyrus opened up about some of her experiences and how much they affected her from a young age.
Cyrus said: “At one point I was like, ‘Yo, when I’m 16 and you’re circling my boobs and shit like that…I’m the bad guy?’
“I think people are starting to go, ‘Wait, wait, wait. That was fucked up.’ They’re starting to know who the enemy and who the victim was there.”
In a four-star review of Cyrus’ latest album, NME said it saw the singer reinvent herself, with the record possessing “infinitely more grit” than its predecessor, 2017’s ‘Younger Now’.
The review continued: “‘Plastic Hearts’ finds the pop-star-turned-rock-star going hell for leather – and when Miley Cyrus is at full throttle, it’s an absolute blast.”
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