Skrillex just pulled a Beyoncé. While we all knew he was working on his full-length debut, we had no idea he was just going to drop it out of the blue on Monday night via his old school video game-like app, Alien Ride.
After revealing the songs one-by-one, Skrillex is now streaming Recess on iTunes until its official March 18 release date.
The album opens with “All is Fair in Love and Brostep,” a dancehall-style dubstep-meets-Jamaica thumper featuring the Ragga Twins on the song’s in-your-face hook. The tune, which, yes, is a totally by-the numbers brostep banger, also features a spoken word bit about how much power is needed to get 1,000 miles from Earth. In other words, everything you’d want from a Skrillex song.
He gets into a more uplifting, party mood on the title track, with ethereal falsetto vocals from Passion Pit’s Michael Angelakos and shouted “put your hands in the air” exhortations from hyped radio DJ Fatman Scoop. The ethereal, darker “Stranger” features Sam Dew, along with Milo and Otis and KillaGraham, while “Try It Out (Neon Mix),” with Alvin Risk is packed with glitchy digital scratching and hammering laser effects.(Risk, Milo and Kill the Noise are all signed to Skrill’s OWSLA label.)
Things get trippy on “Coast is Clear,” which acid MC Chance the Rapper gives a hyped jazzy vibe, with sung/spoken lyrics over a double-time beat accented with horns and piano. “What’s your interest/Who you be with/Can I ask a question/Can you keep a secret?” Chance wonders in his raggedy voice, when the info. he’s really after is a bit more, well, intimate.
The relentless “Dirty Vibe” mixes Diplo’s patented world-music grooves with swagger-ific vocals from K-Pop stars G-Dragon (Big Bang) and CL (2NE1.) Veteran English jungle duo Ragga Twins, who’ve been at it for nearly three decades, come back for the dubstep classic “Ragga Bomb,” the kind of two-stepping chest-rattler that sounds custom made for a huge soundsystem at a massive festival.
Things get super trippy on the psychedelic, slow jam “Doompy Poomp” and then heat up again for the doomy, 1980s style electro jam “F— That.” Things roll to a close with the throbbing dubstep ballad “Ease My Mind,” featuring vocals from Swedish poptronica duo Niki & the Dove and swirling Middle Eastern-style keyboards. The final, sedate track, “Fire Away,” showcases longing vocals from British folk singer/songwriter Kid Harpoon.
Before hitting the road for a proper tour, Skrillex just wrapped a series of his signature “takeover” sets in San Francisco and Brooklyn, which featured multiple nights at different venues with guests including A$AP Rocky, Seven Lions and Samo Sound Boy. His Mothership Tour 2014 will include support from Dillon Francis and DJ Snake on some dates, with the first gig taking place on Thursday night at he SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.
Skrillex’s Mothership tour dates: »3/13-15 – Austin, TX @ SWSW Festival
»3/26-28 – Miami, FL @ Winter Music Conference
»3/30 – Miami, FL @ Ultra Music Festival
»4/12 & 4/19 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
»5/23 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Zoo Amphitheatre
»5/24 – Kansas City, KS @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
»5/26 – Louisville, KY @ Louisville Waterfront Park
»5/27 – Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
»5/28 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple
»5/30-31 – Toronto, ON @ TD Echo Beach
»6/2 – Rochester, NY @ CMAC Performing Arts Center
»6/3 – Albany, NY @ The Washington Avenue Armory
» 6/4 – Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion at Meadowbrook
»6/7 – New York, NY @ Governors Ball
»6/8 – Baltimore, MD @ Pimlico Race Course
»6/9 – Richmond, VA @ Brown’s Island
»6/13-14 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
»6/17 – St. Louis, MO @ Chaifetz Arena
»6/18 – Omaha, NE @ Mid America Center
»6/20-21 – Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
»7/30 – Portland, ME @ Cumberland County Civic Center
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