NovelliFans

IT’S HERE NOVELLIFANS!!!

The collab SO MANY OF US have been waiting for — the brand new cover of A Great Big World’s GRAMMY ® winning stunner, ‘Say Something’ by Ciaran McAuley & Christina Novelli dropped Friday, August 16 on Black Hole Recordings!!! 🥰🥰🥰

& I for one am so excited about this release I’m blasting straight past the intro & diving right in. So let’s shall, shall we?

In the leadup to the drop, Ciaran and Christina shared a couple of different videos previewing the track, one featuring concert footage of them both, created by Jakub Lipski, one of Ciaran’s classic TikTok shares from the studio and one of Christina playing the song at a recent show in Indonesia, in which she shared that she recorded the track for her mum who passed away late last year — it seems this was her favourite song. 💔

I can only begin to imagine what a challenging release this must be for Christina as a result, AND I would bet every. thing. I. own. that her mum would have been thrilled with how the song turned out.

Pairing sparkling melodies that soar over impeccably timed percussion with a pitch perfect vocal performance that’s equal parts soft and strong, Ciaran & Christina have taken an already beautiful track and made it their own — the way that legends do. 🙌

& how lucky we are that they’ve decided to share this stunning track with all of us!!!

The wait is over, Fam — so if by some chance you still haven’t heard it yet, click the link below to revel in the glory that is Ciaran & Christina’s ‘Say Something’.

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Inspiration Defined

I’m sure it will come as no surprise that I’ve had ‘Say Something’ on repeat throughout the days since its release, but something you may not have been expecting — unless you know me better than I know myself — is this impromptu celebratory fan edit I was inspired to make following the track’s initial drop.

I’m SUPER happy with the way it turned out and I hope it adds a little bit of delight to your day as well.

Another inspired item you may not have seen (b/c, algorithm) is this graphic I shared on Instagram prior to the track’s release, highlighting collabs Ciaran has done with a some of my other favourite artists who regularly feature here on the blog — including 2 more from the Muse Music Management Fam (which means he’s only one to go! Let me know in the comments if you know which one.😉)

& because I’m me, I’ve collected all these tracks in a ‘Ciaran Crossovers’ playlists on Soundcloud, Spotify & YouTube Music in case you’re also new to his work and are looking for a solid place to start exploring his catalogue.

The Soundcloud playlist also has a bonus live set that wasn’t available on the other platforms, if you’re interested in getting a feel for what his sound is like straight from the deck.

As I said on Instagram, given that Ciaran’s catalogue extends back well before 2020, I obv haven’t covered the full gamut of top tier artists he’s collaborated with, but that’s the beautiful thing about being late to the party — there’s so much treasure just waiting to be discovered & the next gem is right around the corner. 🙌

So if there are any of Ciaran’s tracks you think I should prioritize as I continue exploring his exceedingly uplifting body of work, please let me know in the comments ⬇️

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This Then That

To round out this week’s post I’ve decided to try something a little different to get us all up to speed on the straight up plethora of tracks our reigning Queen of Releases, Sarah de Warren, has dropped in the 4-ish weeks since the ‘Lights Out’ – Mixes single was released.

Adding six new tracks to the ~25(!!!) she’s already released this year, I thought it would be fun to play a little game of Love This? Try That! — only instead of comparing Sarah’s songs to tracks by other artists, I’m going to compare them to tracks she has previously released herself. 👑👑👑

Obv, the more familiar you are with Sarah’s work, the more effective these comparisons will be, but whether you love your dance music euphoric and ethereal or dark and gritty, I promise you Sarah’s got something in her catalogue to suit!

& just in case you’re a true SdW rookie — which is no shade, b/c I’m not far off one myself 😉 — I’ll also include a rapid fire list of the basics for each set of tracks, including genre, vibe, lyric & the album cover (for all my visual seekers out there) in case the album art might help you decide where you want to go first.

Ready to play? Let’s go! 🎲

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If You Love ‘Into The Night’ -> Try the ‘Catcher In The Rye’ (Harshil Kamdar Remix)

Genre: [EPIC] Main Floor Trance
Vibe: relentless galloping beats, huge snowy synths & warm euphoric vocals

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If You Love ‘Lights Out’ -> Try ‘Hellbound’

Genre: Progressive / Melodic / Tech House
Vibe: dark melodies, throbbing basslines, hushed vocals

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If You Love ‘Love Takes Over’ -> Try ‘Call Me’

Genre: [Melodic] Techno
Vibe: blistering beats & fevered melodic lines, with vocals (and lyrics) that are sure to get your heart racing

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If You Love ‘Memory’ -> Try ‘Echoes’

Genre: [Acid] Techno
Vibe: Haunting vocals, dystopian melodies & beats that REFUSE to quit

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If You Love the ‘Can’t Get Enough (Luca Testa Remix)’ -> Try the ‘The One’ (Brendan Bartels Remix)

Genre: Hardstyle / Hard Trance
Vibe: Both tracks come out the gate swinging, with the latter’s original mix def giving more Trance than the Extended, but by the end, all three tracks are bringing beats so fierce that Sarah’s airy vocals almost shouldn’t fit, and yet somehow they still do!

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If You Love ‘House of Cards’ Try -> ‘Every Time I Touch You’

Genre: Euro-Dance / Euro-Trance
Vibe: Sad girl lyrics, bouncy beats & coquettish melodic lines with vocals to match

🎶🎶🎶

& if you still can’t decide where to start, or you simply don’t want to have to choose, feel free to put one of these playlists on shuffle and let Soundcloud, Spotify or YouTube decide.

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That’s all the gushing I have time for this week, Fam. 😉

Feel free to let me know in the comments what you thought of the Love This? Try That!: Sarah de Warren Edition & if you enjoyed it, maybe I’ll try to work in some similar posts for our other regularly featured artists.

& join me back here next week when I’ll be featuring a super vibey new Siskin remix + a fresh take on a heart-melting Christina track (& hopefully a recap of her upcoming set at Creamfields this Thursday, August 22.)

Until then, NovelliFans, take care & thanks so much for stopping by!

🖤

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