Essential Listening: The best new music releases in August 2024

Good morning, music fans! What a month July was! 

Now it’s August, we’ve got new projects from some brilliant artists to look forward to including A$AP Rocky, Magdalena Bay, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Osees, Fontaines D.C., Illuminati Hotties, Sofi Tukker, and Mura Masa.

But for now, you can listen to the best new music of August 2024 so far on our playlists below. 

 

Essential Listening: House and Techno

 

Illusion - Honey Dijon remix 

House queen Honey Dijon is back with a remix of Dua Lipa’s ‘Illusion’, from her newest album Radical Optimism, and of course, it’s a banger. 

Wasting little time getting into a big, club-shaking bass paired with spacey, almost trippy embellishments, it's not long before you realise this track is a belter that’d perfectly soundtrack your next sunny holiday on the beach. It sounds like cocktails in Ibiza.

As fractured reverbed vocals faze over the track, and it opens for a moment without percussion and only vocals, it’s like a moment frozen in time before the party kicks off again and everyone joins in dancing. 

 

Get tickets to see Honey Dijon live here:

 

Repercussion (Honey Dijon, salute, Sofia Kourtesis, & more) | Saturday 14th September 2024 | Depot (Mayfield) in Manchester

Buy tickets:

 

The Hydra: Honey Dijon's House Nation | Friday 6th December 2024 | Drumsheds in London

Buy tickets:

 

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Essential Listening: Indie and Alternative

 

Singing Elvis - Eleni Drake 

This track is actually split into two parts on Spotify. But you can enjoy both parts together with this YouTube upload. We added both to our indie playlist so you can also enjoy both over there. 

Eleni Drake is a London-based singer-songwriter who’ll be releasing her highly anticipated EP Above Deep Water in September. ‘Singing Elvis’ is her most recent teaser. 

Explaining the meaning of the tracks, Eleni said, “The first half of the song is all the sweet elements to a relationship, where things are going well, romance is in full bloom, the stars come out to dance ‘just for you two.’ Part II is where the inevitable happens: things don’t go as hoped for, people change in relationships – they grow up, or grow out of the relationship, and the lyrics pretty much explain my need and desire to be alone.”

 

Get tickets to see Eleni Drake live here:

 

Eleni Drake | Wednesday 20th November 2024 | The Castle Hotel in Manchester

Buy tickets:

 

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Essential Listening: Drum & Bass and Jungle

 

Cruisin’ - [IVY] 

One of the hottest up-and-comers in the DnB scene, [IVY] has had plenty of eyes on her for a little while now. And with good reason. She’s ace. This new track is taken from [IVY]’s EP, Euphoria, which features four more tracks. 

Known for mixing DnB with techno, in ‘Cruisin’’, you can clearly see some of [IVY]’s influences. Starting ravey with a thumping four-four kick drum, she teases some DnB percussion before it totally kicks in, where the track blossoms into a blissful DnB track.

The track is one of [IVY]'s oldest, jump-starting her career after she posted a clip online. It’s fun, definitely a bop, and you should definitely keep your eyes on [IVY]. 

 

Get tickets to see [IVY] live here:

 

Crucast Coventry - Day Sessions ([IVY], Sota, Kara, & more)  | Saturday 28th September 2024 | Kasbah in Coventry

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Crucast Leeds ([IVY], Skepsis, Amplify, & more) | Saturday 26th October 2024 | The Warehouse in Leeds

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Essential Listening: Hip-Hop and Jazz

 

Chameleon - RUBII, Kofi Stone 

Now, this one’s a little different to what we usually add to the hip-hop and jazz playlist but it’s too good to leave it off. 

This dreamy R&B track by RUBII is as smooth as caramel. She glides over the beat with total ease. It’s the first track on RUBII’s new EP, Change & Remain, which she released on Wednesday. After RUBII finishes her effortlessly cool verse, Kofi Stone steps in.

Birmingham’s Kofi Stone has been on our hip-hop and jazz playlist before. And he returns with this lovely verse about the industry, religion, and more.

 

Get tickets to see Kofi Stone live here:

 

Kofi Stone | Monday 18th November 2024 | 24 Kitchen Street in Liverpool

Buy tickets:

 

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Follow our Essential Listening playlists featured above to discover the best new tracks released each week, as curated by the Skiddle team.

 

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Check out our What's On Guide to discover more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.

 

 

  

 

 

Header image credit: Matt Wilde / Facebook.com