Europe is sort of the testing ground for electronic music in many ways. If a new sound can do well over there then it is only a matter of time before it crosses the pond and hit the gold old USA. We have seen this time and time again with trance and dubstep back in the day and now more recently with tropical house. Well a new sound or I guess you could say a new sub genre has started to gain some real traction over in Europe and thankfully it is already gaining exposure in America. It is warm and inviting and a wonderful starting place to introduce newbies to electronic music. The new subgenre is this unique blend of folk, funk, instrumentation, blues, jazz, and deep house. I am sure you're thinking, ‘WHOA that's a lot' but just hear me out. Well actually hear these songs out.
What Might Be The Next Tropical House…
I started to notice this brand of music a few years ago and instantly I was hooked. It was this rhythmic, relaxed yet actually pretty emotional. It was a sound that just made me happy and relaxed listening to it. I started to think about what genre it could be. Initially my head went to tropical house but that label really doesn't do it justice. The best I can really come up with is that it is definitely an offshoot of deep house so maybe…Folk House…Indie House? Now obviously I didn't say that in the title because Indie/Folk House would scare people away with the name alone, but take a listen to the song that introduced me to the sound:
Niklas Ibach is the artist who time and time again demonstrates to me that this sound is absolutely intoxicating to an almost addictive level. I find myself listening to this song on repeat a few times a week. I started to dig deeper after a warm introduction. I found out that this sound is actually already pretty big in Europe. It is characterized by instrumentation, blues/jazz arrangements, emotional lyrics and an overall indie/folk quality.
The Artist's Who Are Defining The Genre
There are several artists who can be pointed out for taking a lead in this new sound. Obviously as discussed above, Niklas Ibach is one of the artists who is helping define this new unique sound. His various remixes like the Tom Rosenthal track above and his original effort released off of Tiesto‘s AFTR:HRS imprint ‘The Blues' are two tracks which beautifully represent the hypnotic style of the new genre. Ibach has a much wider range than just the sound we are discussing in this article, but he really knows how to pack emotion and originality into his releases.
Nicolas Haelg out of Switzerland is another pioneer with this ever evolving sound. His use of rich instrumentation in his tracks paired with beautiful swing/blues arraignments over a standard deep house beat make for a sound that is simply well…seductive.
Haelg has the ability to weave in deep house elements flawlessly into his instrumentation. Take this next track for example. The use of trumpet playing out a blues/jazz riff throughout mixed with the deep house beat makes for a sound that just leaves you wanting more. It is downright original. It is the crossroads of electronic music and more classical styles of music. To me, that is incredibly exciting.
TEEMID the renowned producer out of Paris is probably the best known out the artists discussed in this article. TEEMID has been around a bit longer than the two other artists previously mentioned, and his sound provides more of a bridge from the typical tropical house style to the new class of house we are discussing. His critically acclaimed remix/cover of ‘Crazy' by Gnarles Barkley is a perfect example.
Where to Find the Best New Music of the Genre
Maybe at this point you are thinking, ‘This guy is an idiot – this is all just deep/tropical house'. But maybe you are desperate to hear more of the sound that I hold close to my heart. Here are some resources to find the best of best new music in his beautiful new class. Any of the artists Soundcloud's are a great place to start. They also have podcast/radio shows which are totally worth checking out. Ibach's ‘Lessons in Harmony' just took the top spot from Claptone's ‘Clapcast' in my theoretical best radio show list with his last episode. Check out some of the best weekly/monthly shows below and happy exploring!
