Vibes

Jazzanova EP

Bohemian Sunset

Rondo Acapricio

Lonely Ride

Carboot Soul

Finer

Amsterdam natives Maarten Smeets and Lars Dales, aka Dam Swindle, unveil their third long-player with the release of a new track, the first to be shared from the upcoming album, ‘Open’ - out on 30 May 2025 via Heist Recordings.

The new album sees the acclaimed duo dive far beyond the deep sonic waters they’re most known for, exploring lower tempos, synthwave, hip-house, and ambient across fourteen tracks. With a gestation period that traces back several years, ‘Open’ is their most intimate and personal body of work thus far, birthed during a time of self-reflection away from touring and personal transformation as individuals.

“We felt the need to tell a very personal story through our music as a translation of our personal development in the past years. We also wanted to make music without a specific goal in mind; We simply wanted to create. By taking away the grid of dance music and any expectations of what a Dam Swindle song should sound like, the creativity started to flow naturally with songs in many different styles and tempos. The result is an album that feels refreshing and uplifting and still very much true to the heart and soul of our sound.” - Dam Swindle, January 2025.

While the trademark Dam Swindle four-to-the-floor beats are still ever-present on tracks like ‘The Present Is Always Perfect’, ‘I Need You’, and ‘Is This Love?’, it’s the gentle waves of synths on opener ‘Home’, the contemplative piano chords of ‘Bloom’ featuring Joep Beving, and the lo-fi ambience of ‘It’s Okay, I Can Wait’ that showcase a melancholic, ethereal sensibility previously uncharted by the duo. Collaborations with vocalists such as NYC’s Haile Supreme on ‘Not Enough’ and Neo-soul singer Faye Meana on ‘Girl’ expertly find room in between the dancefloor and home listening sessions, and a clear standout on the LP is the title cut where message-heavy rapped vocals from UK artist Samson ebb and flow amongst iridescent grooves.

Under the helm of Maarten and Lars’ adept A&R, their Heist imprint has become a beloved home for house heads of both schools old and new, platforming some of dance music’s biggest names from Cinthie to DJ Sneak as well as the musical dawnings of artists such as Kassian and Makèz. The Dam Swindle alias has achieved house music royalty-like status across a storied 15-year career that includes two critically lauded full-lengths, collaborations with the likes of Tom Misch and Kerri Chandler, and a globetrotting touring schedule. This album stands as their most profoundly personal work of art to date, and they can’t wait to share it with you.


Open

Buy here!

Dam Swindle - Not enough feat. Haile Supreme

Yeah True is an eclectic alternative pop duo based in Berlin. Comprised of vocalist/multi instrumentalist/producer Owen Ross (Oh_When) and producer/DJ/visual artist Oscar Bernal, the duo draw from a wide range of influences, sonically and beyond. While Ross was honing his craft touring as a guitarist and writing/producing in New York (collaborators include Lucius, The Who, DJ Amir, Murkage Dave, Jaykae, and more) Bernal was building his profile as an international DJ playing at such festivals as Garbicz, Waking Life, and Meadows In The Mountain and internationally renown clubs Club der Visionaere (Berlin), Kaiku (Helsinki) Papaya Playa Project (Mexico/Tulum) and more. The duo synthesize musicality with dancefloor sensibility creating gritty, playful, pop songs centered around Owen Ross’ smooth baritone. Their debut Album Another Stolen Bike is available on all platforms via Haunt Records.

Oh_when & Yeah True ‘Another Stolen Bike’
All music written by: Owen Ross and Oscar Bernal
Lyrics by: Owen Ross
Produced by: Owen Ross
Mixed by: Henning Grambow
Mastered by: Mat Leffler-Schulman
Album artwork by: Amanda Arrou-tea

Another Stolen Bike 

01_Airy_1644_v4

Midnight Ragas

Burkina Faso

Je ne t'aime plus

Je ne t'aime plus (feat. Natalia Clavier)

Leave It All

Leave It All (feat. Puma Ptah)

Behind My Eyes (feat. The Infinite Daisy Chains)

Note to Self

While the others flee, Aphrodite and Eros refuse to be divided. They bind themselves with a golden cord and leap into the Euphrates, transforming into fish. Together they vow: love will endure where gods have faltered.

5.) Leap inna River

Sculpture

Motion

Channel 1 Suite

Shakatakadoodub

Founder of Thievery Corporation.

In a time where much of the world is confined and fearful comes Thievery Corporation co-founder Eric Hilton’s first solo record “Infinite Everywhere”, an elegant exploration of inner space that will leave listeners feeling replenished and centered. While Thievery painted with a broad musical brush, genre hopping across (and sometimes within) over 20 plus years of albums and live work, Hilton’s solo debut is distilled, focused, and more personal.  "I’m kind of the drum & bass guy in Thievery – I’ve never been much of a player of melodic instruments. “Infinite Everywhere” is me challenging myself to play more. I started work on a laptop and cheap midi controller; when my engineer Igor Garnier heard the rough tracks, he encouraged me to play more,” says Hilton. “I’ve always been a bit of studio rat, but I've found I really enjoy making music on my own, late night with just me and a keyboard – I’m kind of hooked on that. On this record I played nearly every instrument, which I’ve never done before.”

“Infinite Everywhere” was recorded at The Winter Palace in Washington, DC from September 2019 through March 2020. The album title and concept predate the current global crisis, but are remarkably prescient, conveying feelings of melancholia and optimism in equal measure. And while Hilton has incorporated exotic musical ingredients from diverse cultures on his previous work with Thievery Corporation, “Infinite Everywhere” is decidedly more European in feel. This influence came from an unexpected place, Hilton explains: “I took a tongue in cheek influence from prog rock – the best elements of it anyway. Prog too often goes off in a direction I don’t like. But some more mellow progsongs aren’t necessarily “rock” – at their best they’re explorations of space, organic, with truly gifted playing. That part of the genre appeals to me.” 

The meditative title track and first single, “Infinite Everywhere”, personifies Hilton’s humanistic and exploratory ethos. “Infinite Everywhere” is so simple, but it always gets me into my chakra mode – there’s a realignment that comes when listening to it,” he says. The song isn’t just a doorway to the album, but a potent rhythmical mantra for willing ears. “When I meditate, I become vapor, flowing free around the earth or the atmosphere – I let myself explore in my mind, pop up on a Tokyo Street, then in Prague, or on the Ganges in India. My mind decides on the time and space. “Infinite Everywhere" represents that experience of doing that."

But don’t make the mistake of thinking that descriptors like “exploratory” and “meditative” are code for a sleepy record. As an album, “Infinite Everywhere” is the ne plus ultra of elegant groove, which Hilton has been distilling for over two decades. It kicks, and it sounds amazing. “In Thievery, we always wanted to make music that was electronic but sounded real, -that’s what I’m into. I love making real sounding things with an unusual process.”  We are living in strange times – perhaps the strangest in our lifetimes. The album’s second single, “This Strange Daze” featuring Puma Ptah, is something of an outlier, being the only song on the record with vocals, and more of a Jamaican feel. “Strange Daze” was a strong instrumental sketch, but something in me said it would be more powerful
with a vocal. I’ve been working with the incredible Puma Ptah for many years, he’s done some tracks and toured with Thievery and is the main singer for The Archives. He’s such a great writer, so I hit him up to collaborate on the track. He wrote the song about week one of this current crisis, riffing off the title, powerful lyrics about anxiety and worry eating at you, how to deal with it and cope. It occupies a very special place on the record, another point of connection.”

Leave It All (feat. Puma Ptah)

Eric Hilton

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