Banger Dispatch #009 — Saturday, May 23, 2026
22 captures
Dispatch 9 lands heavy. There's a coherent argument running through this round about how you find music now — Instagram algorithms, ABGT premieres, and a producer named TRFN appearing three times because the bass keeps pulling you back. Josh Fawaz continues his run of form with 'Latch,' which sweeps more playlists in a single track than most artists manage in a year. James Hype and Tita Lay make something that sounds effortless and definitely isn't. Kasablanca show up for the sixth time in this listener's history, which at this point is just confirmation of what everyone already knew. There's a Bryan Andrews protest song in here that has no business being in a dance music newsletter and is absolutely staying anyway. Forty-three tracks, one sax hook that will follow you around for days, and a Bettye LaVette feature that reminds you what six decades of living sounds like when it's given the right frame. Let's go.
New Discoveries
Say It Twice — ESSEN
HEATER
ESSEN locked in a proper construction here — the beat is tight without being clinical, and the vocal sits in that sweet spot where it drives the track without overexplaining itself. The drop delivers exactly what the build promises, no detours. This is the kind of HEATER that works equally well on a dance floor at 1am or in headphones at a desk at midnight — the playlists don't lie.
ESSEN is a Melbourne-based producer whose work sits at the crossroads of melodic house and indie dance. The project has been building quietly through self-released singles, with a sound that leans more into crafted songwriting than pure club utility.
Into the Portal — Mannymore
INTRIGUING
The vocals are the whole argument here — the drop is not the point and Mannymore knows it. There's a real economy of design in letting the groove and the voice carry the track rather than engineering a cathartic moment that the song doesn't need. Afro house elements give it texture that most slap house cuts don't bother with.
Mannymore is a producer working the intersection of afro house, organic house, and slap house — a lane that's been expanding fast on streaming platforms as listeners look for something with more melodic and percussive depth than pure bass-forward house. Still a relatively emerging name with limited label history.
Human (Feat. John Martin) — David Guetta, Third Party, John Martin
BANGER
It's Guetta — and at this point that's both the critique and the compliment, all at once. Third Party bring some genuine progressive architecture to the production, John Martin's vocals do exactly what John Martin vocals always do (which is: work), and the drop is the drop you came for. Peak-hour programming, no apology needed.
Third Party — the UK duo of Harry Bass and Tom Sheridan — have a long history of Guetta collaborations and are core to his progressive house output. John Martin is a Swedish vocalist whose work with Swedish House Mafia ('Don't You Worry Child') made him a fixture in this lane. This is a reunion of proven components.
The Weekend — Digital Farm Animals, Kenny Can't Dance
CLUB GROOVE
The hook does the heavy lifting before the track earns it — 'I get drunk on the weekend' is a lyric that doesn't need permission to stick. Digital Farm Animals has always had a knack for that kind of Trojan horse songwriting: something quirky at the entry point that opens into a properly functional dance floor groove. Kenny Can't Dance adds the right kind of loose energy.
Digital Farm Animals is the project of UK producer Nick Gale, known for chart crossover work and collaborations across pop and dance (notably with Anne-Marie and Sigrid). Kenny Can't Dance is a rising indie dance alias with a handful of releases that lean into self-aware, tongue-in-cheek vocal house.
Potential — TRFN
HEATER
TRFN's third entry in this round and the one with the most upward pressure — 'Potential' reads as a title that knows what it's doing. The slap house / g-house DNA is consistent with his catalogue but this one has a little more tension in the build. A HEATER without a playlist slot yet is either waiting for the right moment or waiting for someone to find it.
TRFN (pronounced 'Trifon') is a Bulgarian producer who has become one of the more consistent voices in slap house and g-house, releasing through his own channels and collecting placement on Spotify's major dance editorial playlists. Three tracks in a single listener round is a real signal.
Ibiza Summer Lights — DJ PERSEYA
INTRIGUING
The title is doing a lot of atmospheric work and the track had better deliver the visual — Ibiza's cultural weight as a signifier is both a gift and a liability for any producer willing to put it in the name. PERSEYA is betting on the feeling landing before the cynicism does. Whether it sticks depends entirely on the execution of that melodic arc.
DJ PERSEYA appears to be an emerging artist with limited documented label history or established scene connections at this stage. The Ibiza-coded title and release timing (June 2026) suggests deliberate alignment with summer festival and residency season.
Backwoods Backwards — Bryan Andrews
INTRIGUING
This one doesn't belong on the dance floor and it knows it — Bryan Andrews built a career on songs that make you uncomfortable in productive ways, and 'Backwoods Backwards' fits that tradition. It's a protest song that lands differently when the politics are your own, and that's kind of the whole point. You're not going to dance to it. Deal with it.
Bryan Andrews is an American country singer-activist known for progressive left-wing protest songs that sit outside mainstream Nashville orthodoxy. His work draws comparisons to the protest folk and country traditions of artists like Steve Earle and John Prine, updated for contemporary political terrain.
Via Instagram · @bryanandrewsmusic
Where Are You? — Mizora
INTRIGUING
The synth work is what closes the deal here — the vocals set the tone but it's the texture underneath that gives this its staying power. Mizora has a sound that feels like it was discovered rather than engineered, which is a rare quality in melodic house right now. Found on Insta and can't find the handle — that kind of mystery suits the track.
Mizora appears to be an emerging artist in the melodic house space with minimal documented label history. The Instagram-discovery pathway for this track is consistent with how a number of melodic house acts have built early audiences in 2025-2026, bypassing traditional PR infrastructure entirely.
Deeper — Noelis
CLUB GROOVE
The slow-burn construction is either a feature or a bug depending on your patience, but here it's clearly a feature — the drop hits harder because the opening earns it through restraint rather than instant gratification. Noelis is playing a longer game than the genre usually demands. The CLUB GROOVE tag is honest: this isn't a peak-time weapon, it's a floor-setter that works.
Noelis is an emerging producer with limited documented release history, operating in a space adjacent to melodic house and progressive club music. The May 2026 release suggests an artist building momentum through individual singles rather than album or EP structures.
WAY BACK — MANSA
BANGER
MANSA made something that refuses to negotiate — it grabs the lapels from bar one and doesn't let go, and the drop doesn't arrive so much as it detonates. Bass house done with this level of structural confidence is rare; most producers in this lane settle for impact over architecture, and MANSA delivers both. Peak-hour, gym, dance floor — the playlist sweep is correct.
MANSA is an emerging producer in the bass house space whose sound draws on the harder, more percussive end of the genre — closer to Chris Lorenzo and AC Slater's NightBass aesthetic than the melodic bass house of artists like Rinzen. 'WAY BACK' appears to be a breakout-level track for the project.
The Art of Letting Go — Peter Axon
INTRIGUING
The sax is the hook and Peter Axon knows it — there's a confident economy in building a track around a live-instrument lead that most producers in this space wouldn't risk. This is a chair dancer: it doesn't demand your full body but it absolutely owns your shoulders and your smile. The vocal sits on top of the groove like it was always meant to be there.
Peter Axon is a UK-based producer and multi-instrumentalist whose work incorporates live saxophone into dance music production — a lineage that connects to artists like Tensnake and Fred Again in terms of live-instrument integration, though Axon's sound is warmer and more groove-forward.
Via Instagram · @peter_axon_music
Weekend — Loek, VisionV
CLUB GROOVE
Stutter house done with genuine compositional intent — Loek and VisionV are not leaning on the genre's most obvious tricks here, the opening vocal earns the build and the drop lands because the arrangement did the work. 'Tight and night' is a real compliment in this lane; the genre can get sloppy fast and this doesn't. Dance floor placement is correct.
Loek is a Dutch producer working in stutter house and melodic club music, with releases through Spotify-adjacent indie channels. VisionV is a collaborating vocalist whose contribution here adds genuine melodic identity rather than generic topline. Stutter house as a micro-genre has been gaining editorial traction in 2025-2026.
Latch — Josh Fawaz
BANGER
Josh Fawaz is on a genuinely absurd run right now — three appearances across the listener history and every single one has earned its place. 'Latch' is the kind of track that justifies the multi-playlist sweep: it works at the desk, in the gym, on the floor, at the peak. That's not a coincidence, that's a producer who understands how energy maps to context.
Josh Fawaz is a Toronto-based DJ and producer who has been releasing on his own imprint and collecting support from tastemaker DJs in the melodic house and progressive space. 'Latch' is part of the 'Dance Like Everyone's Watching' album, which represents his most fully realized project statement to date.
Black Out (ABGT683) - Mixed — Harry Diamond, ChangedFaces
FESTIVAL
The 80s synth entry is exactly the kind of production move that separates a track from a set filler — Harry Diamond and ChangedFaces are clearly not interested in easy genre boxes here, and the ABGT context means this was already audience-tested at scale before it landed in this list. The progression from retro-tinted open to full progressive architecture is handled with real craft.
ABGT (Above & Beyond's Group Therapy) is one of electronic music's longest-running and most respected radio institutions, and a track premiering at ABGT683 carries real curatorial weight. Harry Diamond is a UK producer with a history of melodic techno and progressive house releases; ChangedFaces is a collaborative alias with emerging presence in the same space.
Seratonin — James Hype
BANGER
James Hype and Tita Lay have made something that absolutely should not work as many times as it does — the formula is clear but the execution is immaculate, and 'Seratonin' (yes, the misspelling is intentional) hits with the kind of physical directness that justifies both the gym and the dance floor tags simultaneously. Hype's production is clinical in the best possible sense.
James Hype is a UK DJ and producer who broke through with 'Ferrari' (featuring Miguelle) and has built a reputation for high-energy, hook-driven tech house that crosses over to mainstream audiences without losing club credibility. Tita Lay is a vocalist who has appeared on several prominent dance tracks in the 2024-2026 window.
wild rides — daylight
INTRIGUING
Daylight is operating in a very specific emotional register — the kind of track that earns the word 'solid' not as faint praise but as a real quality descriptor. 'Wild rides' doesn't oversell the premise; it delivers a clean, well-constructed dance tune that found its audience through social media rather than industry channels. That's increasingly the more honest path.
Daylight appears to be an emerging project with Instagram as a primary discovery channel, consistent with a generation of producers building audiences outside traditional label infrastructure. The June 2026 release date places this in a competitive summer window.
Via Instagram · @daylightwav
Higher — VYTO, TRINITY
CLUB GROOVE
VYTO brings the structural goods and Trinity's vocals are the reason this track works beyond the mechanics — a solid club beat with a competent drop is table stakes, but a vocalist who can make you feel something in the breakdown is the difference between programming and music. First-timer on the list and already earning a dance floor slot.
VYTO is an emerging producer whose work sits in the melodic house and club space. TRINITY (credited here as a vocalist) adds the kind of topline craft that separates functional club tracks from tracks people actually remember. Limited documented label history for either artist at this stage.
Yukon — Beachcrimes
FESTIVAL
Tia Tia's vocal is the structural spine of this track and Ryan's production is smart enough to let it be — there's a generosity in the production approach that festival-scale tracks often sacrifice for impact. 'Yukon' as a title for a festival dance track has a geographic ambition that the music apparently lives up to. The October 2025 date makes this a slow-burn discovery.
Beachcrimes is the project of Ryan Grunert, a Canadian producer whose work incorporates vocalist Tia Tia as a consistent creative partner. The project has built an audience through live performance and social media, with a sound that sits between melodic house and progressive festival music.
Via Instagram · @beachcrimes
Never Getting Older — Eleven Steps
CLUB GROOVE
The Chainsmokers reference is honest and precise — Eleven Steps are clearly working from that production blueprint but the Calvin Harris and NOTD DNA adds enough textural variety to prevent the obvious comparison from becoming a limitation. This is polished indie dance with a commercial instinct, and the gym-to-dance-floor playlist span confirms it has genuine range.
Eleven Steps appears to be an emerging indie dance and pop-electronic project whose production style draws on the 2015-2020 commercial dance music wave. The NOTD and Calvin Harris comparisons in the listener notes are sonically accurate reference points for the aesthetic.
Rumor — TRFN
CLUB GROOVE
TRFN's third appearance and the one with the most explicit creative signature — the bass construction and production texture that keep pulling this listener back are front and center on 'Rumor.' The CLUB GROOVE designation is slightly lower-stakes than his HEATER cuts, which makes sense: this is TRFN showing the architecture rather than just the impact.
TRFN's consistent presence across slap house and g-house releases in 2025-2026 positions him as one of the more interesting developing artists in the micro-genre. Three appearances in a single listener round is a genuine loyalty signal that rarely emerges with emerging artists.
Give In — MIND
INTRIGUING
Deep house done with patience is a different kind of confidence — MIND is not in a hurry here, and 'Give In' earns the title by actually making the case for surrender rather than just asserting it. The album context ('Dreams') suggests this is a piece of something larger, which changes how the track sits in isolation.
MIND appears to be an artist or project operating in the deep house and atmospheric electronic space, with limited documented label history. The April 2026 release as part of a larger album project suggests an artist with enough material and vision to think beyond the single format.
Where You Are — DIMEO, ZILO
CLUB GROOVE
ZILO's vocals are the discovery here — DIMEO provides the structural framework but the voice is what converts a scroll into a save. Instagram algorithms surfacing genuinely good music is still surprising enough to be worth noting, and this is another data point in that direction. The CLUB GROOVE tag suggests the track works best as floor-prep rather than peak-time.
DIMEO and ZILO are emerging artists in the melodic house and indie dance space with limited documented label history. ZILO as a vocalist appears on multiple 2025-2026 releases, suggesting an artist actively building a featuring profile across projects.
Via Instagram · @dimeomusic