Early last month, Las Vegas producer 3LAU surprised us with his latest release. Building his early career off of impressive mash ups and bootlegs that showed his production prowess, he's evolved into a producer and DJ that we know we can look to for classically styled, big room melodic house. But with "Alive Again," he proved to us that his talent is adaptable and ranges in a wider spectrum than just that by releasing a track that is melodic enough that it's almost trance (enough so it was featured on Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance radio show), differing from what we frequently see from him.
Out on Armada Music, "Alive Again" features vocals from one one of the most iconic vocalists in the industry: Emma Hewitt. The collaboration is one that demonstrates both artists' ability to work together well and their understanding of what makes a good melody. To celebrate the track's success, 3LAU has joined us for an exclusive guest mix. We also chatted with him about the release of "Alive Again," and it seems there's even more in store for his musical future than we thought:
I'm SO excited for you to hear the full Alive Again EP. I really wanted to do something different; this is my effort to highlight elements of musicality in a genre that too often prioritizes “cool” or “catchy” sounds. Each version of "Alive Again" was created with different production techniques, different song-writing styles and thus, each strives to invoke a unique emotional response. We listen to different genres of music depending on our states of mind, so I wanted people to enjoy the song behind Alive Again across multiple moods. Whether you’re feeling energetic, chill, or need a dose of vulnerability, there’s always a version to listen to.
I’m looking forward to following this format for a lot of my future releases. Since my early mashup days I’ve always been fascinated by combinations, how different elements of different things could work together to create something new. The Alive Again EP is the evolution of that fascination that I have with sound. The concept of that in literature is called intertextuality – the idea that every creative concept is influenced by a variety of creative predecessors. I’m using it as a framework for everything I make moving forward, taking bits and pieces of musical influence from lots of different genres and injecting it in dance music.
I've always viewed myself as a musician first, a producer second, and a performer third; this is the beginning of a new chapter for me, where I'll be doing more projects that showcase musicianship over anything else!
