Illyus Barrientos alongside fresh talent Aden Rémei, kick start the year with a certified club weapon.

‘Deep Down’ is a first-class production, guaranteed to set dancefloors a blaze with its raw undiluted energy. Known for his consistency in producing stand out House, hosting Toolroom Radio, and supplying Toolroom with genuine moments like ‘So Serious’, ‘D.A.N.C.E.’, ‘Shout’, and ‘Promise’, Illyus Barrientos return to form with ‘Deep Down’ combining authentic House vocals with trademark hypnotic and infectious grooves.

CASSIMM returns to Toolroom with his latest single, ‘Over You’ – sampling the iconic vocals of Kathy Brown from the classic Warren Clarke original.

Building on a strong track record with Toolroom, where his releases have consistently gained support from top DJs and charted high, the Italian producer has proven himself a standout talent in the House realm.

Following a string of successes on the label, alongside his recent Beatport achievements and a climb to #15 on 1001Tracklists’ Top 101 Producers chart, CASSIMM continues to deliver soulful, dancefloor-ready House that resonates globally. ‘Over You’ is set to keep the momentum going.

Truthlive – The San Francisco-based artist, also known as Evan Phillips – has spent the last few years shifting between various shades of musical styles. His last two commercial EPs October Summer and Love & Respect both hit #1 on Beatport’s New Releases chart, signalling a growing presence on the global circuit.

His latest single, Surrender, arrived on Mise En Place last month. Blending a laid-back, Kaytranada-style groove with sparkling keys, smooth guitar, and Ambrin’s soothing delivery, Surrender creates a sound that feels both intimate and uplifting. Future-soulful and effortlessly cool, it’s the kind of track that makes you want to surrender to the dance floor—or simply sink into the vibe.

With the single out now – and plenty more music coming – we asked Truthlive to put together a playlist of some of his all-time favorite cuts.

Prince – Controversy

While a classic, it’s still underrated in the Prince pantheon and is my favorite song of his lyrically. Prince was music Jesus, God, whatever… the Purple One.

Fred again.. – Danielle (smile on my face)

From the very first time I heard this song, it became an anthem in my life. I have cried in public a handful of times while DJing this song.

Vic Mensa – Down On My Luck

This is the most vibed-out shit ever. It is a perfect song. If someone tells you they don’t like House music, play them this—because they do like House music. They just didn’t know it, and just needed to hear this.

Le Youth, Sultan + Shepard ft. Panama – New Love

Such a beautiful song. I heard Le Youth play it live outside in the fog and mist at sunset in San Francisco, and it became a core memory.

Ultra Nate – Free

This song was huge when I was really becoming obsessed with buying records and learning to DJ as a really young person. It holds a special place in my heart, has such an important message, and still kills on floors.

RUFUS DU SOL – No Place

Like the rest of the songs on this list, every single time I hear this it feels amazing to me. It never, ever gets old. Again, I have a core memory taking this song in live in Golden Gate Park in SF under a fog layer at night. Magical stuff.

Thom Yorke – Eraser

Thom is so good. I don’t even know what genre this is. It’s just dope. Emote and feel. He knows how to draw it out of us.

Felix da Housecat – Ready 2 Wear

I wish I had been born to have been in my early 20s in the New Wave era. I think this song came out in 2004, but my God did he nail the aesthetic. Also, just a huge sucker for arp’s.

Elderbrook & Bob Moses – Inner Light

I am also a sucker for steady pianos/keys playing pretty chords. It might be the most simple approach to composing, but it’s also so damn beautiful when done right. And again, a beautiful message.

Q Lazarus & Garvey – Goodbye Horses

As you can probably tell so far—I am super duper emo. This is the end-all, be-all of emo dance jams. If someone doesn’t feel this song, don’t trust their musical taste.

Blakey returns with You! Girl…x, a short, high-impact cut built for peak-time energy.

It points toward the fluorescent end of the UK club spectrum, nodding to that ATB 9pm euphoria and the clipped vocal bounce of Casso’s Prada. It moves fast and doesn’t overstate itself. A looping hook, bright synth punctuation, and a rhythm section that keeps everything lean. It’s the most direct Blakey has sounded in this new phase. Immediate, no fuss, straight to the feeling.

The track follows 5 Reasons, which introduced this more club-facing shift. Where 5 Reasons was shaded in late-night warmth and suspended emotion, You! Girl…x snaps into something more upfront. It feels like someone who knows exactly where they want this to go.

Blakey’s background as a songwriter and vocalist is long established. Over 70 million streams and steady support across streaming, radio and editorial platforms have given him room to move at his own pace. His rise has been shaped by consistency rather than hype. The work has connected on Chill Vibes, The Pop List, Piano Ballads and New Music Daily. Features in Clash, Notion and TMRW have tracked the evolution. BBC Introducing stages and his own sold-out headline at Hackney Social have underlined the live side of it.

What’s happening now is a subtle but definitive pivot toward the electronic spaces that have shaped him privately for years. Blakey talks about the culture as something lived rather than adopted. The friendships, the rooms, the after-hours conversations.

You! Girl…x is out now on Zesty Records

French techno producer and DJ Hayden F returns with Thoughts and Prayers, a five-track EP complemented by a powerful remix from Mexican techno veteran Fixon.

Released on his own Silencio Records label, the record traces a sharp line between punishing, fast-paced rhythms and hypnotic melodic passages that lend the whole release a sense of lift. It is tough, engrossing music, built for full immersion rather than surface-level impact.

The sound of the EP moves between hard, driving percussion and moments of unexpected clarity. Hayden threads in drifting pads, rising tones and small flashes of harmony that cut through the weight. The tracks feel tightly coiled but never static, shifting shape in ways that keep the tension alive while opening space for something more emotive to emerge.

Hayden F has spent more than a decade refining this approach. His productions and DJ sets come from a place of precise construction, shaped by a cinematic instinct where every element is a character and every track a self-contained world. The familiar dualities of his work anchor the EP. Somber depth against clarity, force against brightness, restraint against emotion. It is a balance he has carried through releases on Obscuur, Room Trax, TUTU, Vanity Dust, Off Recordings, Trapez and Trau-ma, and it is the quality that caught Richie Hawtin’s attention, leading him to play Hayden’s unreleased Urban Pressure across a long run of clubs and festivals.

Silencio Records gives the EP a fitting home. The label and its associated events have become a steady hub for underground techno, with artists such as Exos, Paula Cazenave, Marcel Dettmann, Julieta Kopp, Flug and Madwoman shaping its catalogue and its club identity. Silencio parties have welcomed a growing circle of international guests who share the same lean, shadowy aesthetic.

French techno producer and DJ Hayden F returns with Thoughts and Prayers, a five-track EP complemented by a powerful remix from Mexican techno veteran Fixon.

Released on his own Silencio Records label, the record traces a sharp line between punishing, fast-paced rhythms and hypnotic melodic passages that lend the whole release a sense of lift. It is tough, engrossing music, built for full immersion rather than surface-level impact.

The sound of the EP moves between hard, driving percussion and moments of unexpected clarity. Hayden threads in drifting pads, rising tones and small flashes of harmony that cut through the weight. The tracks feel tightly coiled but never static, shifting shape in ways that keep the tension alive while opening space for something more emotive to emerge.

With the EP out now, Hayden F has put together an inspirational selection of some of the cuts he wishes he’d made himself.

SHXCXCHCXSH – !!!…

This duo has been a huge influence on me. They’re a reminder of what happens when you ignore every rule and still land somewhere emotional. Their raw, mechanical sound shouldn’t work… and yet it hits harder than most “melodic” music. I’ve been fascinated ever since.

Shlømo – Burned Hand (Emmanuel Remix)

One of my first big techno obsessions. This track shaped the way I understand contrast: brute force on the surface, melancholy underneath. It’s the perfect balance between the dancefloor and something more introspective.

Nine Inch Nails – Closer

It’s one of those tracks that carries its own universe, careless, tense, intimate, a little dangerous. Their production style is so specific that it ended up influencing entire generations, myself included.

Kraftwerk – Radioactivity

A classic I only discovered properly after seeing them live. Instant emotional shock. Since that moment, this track has been a constant in my life.

Alarico – Ikura

A more recent one, but it represents everything I love about modern techno, especially from this artist. Minimalism, groove, emotion. Nothing is wasted, everything is intentional. Pure class.

I Hate Models – Cyanure Dance

This one brings back memories of careless raves. I love the electro/club textures and the cinematic energy he manages to create. He was one of my references for a long time.

Daft Punk – Alive

I picked this track, but honestly, the whole album could be here. It’s the record I’ve listened to the most in my life. Timeless and futuristic at once. It shaped the entire landscape of electronic music. Masters at work.

Björk – Bachelorette

Do I even need to elaborate?

Norbak – Nove Zero Nove

A punch of contemporary techno. There’s something uniquely surprising in the way he builds this track, ideas you wouldn’t expect to work, but somehow they do. It hits hard and right, even for people who don’t like techno.

Vitalic – Poison Lips

A French classic that shaped my teenage years. To me, it represents everything that makes Vitalic so good: emotion, attitude, and that unmistakable edge.

Hayden F – Thoughts and Prayers is out now on Silencio Records

Rising-star Crusy and renowned vocalist Jem Cooke come together for the first time on “Good To Go”. Blending Crusy’s unmistakable grooves with Jem’s signature vocals, the track delivers a perfect mix of club energy and emotional weight. A genuine timeless production to round off the year.

2025 has seen Crusy continue his upward-trend, with releases like ‘Kiki’ and ‘The Night Train’ earning huge support from the very biggest DJs in the scene ranging from Carl Cox to Mau P and plenty inbetween. Jem Cooke, best known for her work on CamelPhat’s “Breathe”, brings her signature songwriting and voice to the forefront once again.

Cevin Fisher and David Morales team up on Sunshine, a new collaboration featuring British-Italian vocalist Romina Johnson, out now on Morales’ DIRIDIM Records.

Driven by a deep, expressive bassline and skittering percussion, Sunshine brings together three artists with deep roots in house and soul. Johnson’s soaring vocal sits front and centre – open, heartfelt and effortlessly powerful – while Fisher and Morales craft a backdrop that’s both hypnotic and restrained, balancing classic house elements with a modern, groove-led sensibility.

A Grammy-winning producer, remixer and DJ, David Morales has remained a key figure in global dance music for over three decades. His DIRIDIM imprint reflects his long-standing love of emotionally resonant club music, and has become a home for artists bridging the space between tradition and innovation.

Cevin Fisher, known for era-defining club records like The Freaks Come Out and You Got Me (Burnin’ Up), continues to refine his tough, rhythmic style: rooted in the sounds of New York and shaped by decades of global dancefloor experience. His work with Morales on Sunshine captures the synergy between two of house music’s most enduring figures.

Romina Johnson, best known for her vocals on the Artful Dodger classic Movin’ Too Fast, brings a rich and dynamic performance to the track. A seasoned collaborator across house, R&B and broken beat, she moves between restraint and release with ease, elevating the production with unmistakable presence.

Sunshine is out now on DIRIDIM Records.

With the 5-track Truth Remains EP, A Path Untold continues his singular imprint of cinematic electronic music, straddling the realms of deep listening and dancefloor momentum.

Panoramic in its sensibility and feel but with a lingering sense of post-rave, the record blends elements of lo-fi house, future garage, breakbeat, downtempo, and touches of dub techno flavor through a filmic lens – weaving sleek grooves and lush arrangements into luminous, cinematic soundscapes that shift like light across a stormy horizon.

Written and produced by Daniel Merrill in his Northern California studio, Truth Remains reflects on what endures when illusion falls away – exploring resilience, authenticity, and the timelessness of universal truths that bind us together as human beings in a fractured world. Enveloped in palpable texture and a warmly nuanced lo to hi-fi aesthetic, the music surges through boldly expansive melodic movements and emotive themes that flow from enigma and rumination into euphoric triumph.

Incorporating elements of world instrumentation, syncopated shuffling drum programming, expressive vocal textures, and hybrid acoustic – synthetic psychoacoustic design, each track weaves together strikingly unique samples and Merrill’s signature sense of defiant groove – resulting in a dynamic range of emotional resonance that feels both timeless and forward-reaching.

Following the acclaimed In The Light of Shadow and Realms of Solace, this marks A Path Untold’s third extensive EP in two years – a bold and prolific continuation of his vision to reclaim vulnerability, melody, and emotional honesty as the core of modern electronic music.

Mise en Place is proud to present the new single “Surrender” from label artist Truthlive, featuring the soulful vocals of Erica Ambrin.

Blending a laid-back, Kaytranada-style groove with sparkling keys, smooth guitar, and Ambrin’s soothing delivery, Surrender creates a sound that feels both intimate and uplifting. Future-soulful and effortlessly cool, it’s the kind of track that makes you want to surrender to the dance floor—or simply sink into the vibe.

The San Francisco-based artist, also known as Evan Phillips, has spent the last few years shifting between various shades of musical styles. His last two commercial EPs October Summer and Love & Respect both hit #1 on Beatport’s New Releases chart, signalling a growing presence on the global circuit.