You have heard a hundred melodic trap tracks called something like headrush and bounced off every one, I know. Give this one four minutes anyway. Łaszewo and AVELLO have made the rare version that earns the title, a track that actually produces the lightheaded lift it is named after. It opens almost like a pop song, clean vocal, simple piano, the kind of intro that usually signals a limp festival-trap drop is about to ruin everything. Then the first drop is restrained, almost polite, a pitched vocal and a rubbery bass doing a lot with a little. The second drop is where they let go, and the extra patience pays off, because by then you are leaning in waiting for it. Trap Nation has moved a lot of forgettable melodic trap over the years, and the genre picked up a reputation as background music for a sad montage. This is the version that remembers trap was supposed to feel dangerous even when it is pretty. The chord progression under that second drop is genuinely lovely, the sort of thing that lodges in your head and rides home with you. Headphones, eyes closed.
January
Chrome Daydream
Chrome stars, jelly hearts and holographic colour. A nod to the glossy, optimistic graphics of the early web.