Martin Jensen returns with World (Astralwerks), a five-song, club-ready EP inspired by three years of non-stop touring that found the breakout Danish artist headlining some of the globe’s biggest festivals and most prestigious venues. See below for track listing. Download / stream World HERE.
“World to me is a mix of all the different places I’ve been fortunate enough to see throughout the past few years,” Martin Jensen says. “From all the festivals and clubs to the beautiful scenery, it’s all combined into this.”
Jensen gave fans a preview of his new material when he shared a track a day during last week’s Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), the global electronic music conference/club festival that features over 2,500 artists performing at venues throughout Amsterdam. Becoming the most successful Danish electronic artist ever, Jensen was named by DJ Mag as one of 2018’s Top 100 DJs at last Saturday’s awards ceremony, held during ADE. This is his third consecutive year on the influential tally.
“The Top 100 means so much to DJs because these are the awards that are purely voted for by the fans,” explains Jensen. “My biggest aim when I get on the stage is just to make people happy, to make them dance, to use music to give them a time that they won’t forget.”
Jensen pays tribute to South America with “Rio,” the lead-off track from World. Infused with Latin heat and instrumentals, his use of brass, piano and percussion reflect the heat and passion of the continent. From Indonesia and a collaboration with producer Dolf, “Djoba” is an irreverent, bouncing bassline cut that holds off on the expected drop until the second break, stripped back and then unleashed with deft precision by the duo. Slow, rumbling and majestic to begin with, Jensen dives in and out of the pan and flange on “Pharaoh,” with thin, reedy Egyptian instrumentals soaring over his thundering, syncopated bassline.
“Osaki” evokes Asia, with a melody that floats, then disappears into shuddering, skittering production and frenetic percussion, with huge, rumbling bass drops underpinning the entire production. EP closer “Valhalla,” co-produced with Faustix, sees Jensen return to Europe. Dark and brooding, sinister synths move into deep percussive segues, creating a backdrop for the track’s top line “everything’s going to be alright…” The uneasy sense of well-being is ultimately undone when the pair drop a chilling scream into the production.
In this interview with Billboard, Jensen talks about traveling the globe, his signature DJ set list and “16 Steps,” his single featuring singer-actress Olivia Holt. In its premiere of the “16 Steps” video, which now has more than 1.3 million views, Billboard said, “You may remember the young musician from his breakout hit ‘Solo Dance’…This hook-ridden follow-up has a lot more urban edge thanks to a snappy beat and trap-influence, but this sugary melody and lovelorn message is pure summer pop.”
Jensen’s singles have racked up a combined 850 million streams on Spotify alone. “Solo Dance” has earned more than a dozen certifications worldwide, including 8x Platinum in Sweden. In the U.K., it topped the Official Dance Singles Top 40 chart and became one of the biggest hits of 2017. “Wait” featuring Loote followed in the summer of 2017 and has received 60 million plays on Spotify. Views of the official video for “Wait,” which can be seen HERE, are nearing two million while cumulative views of Jensen’s videos on YouTube have surpassed 40 million. In addition to his own releases, the 26-year-old has created official remixes for Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry and other artists.
Track Listing – World
- 1. Rio
- 2. Djoba
- 3. Pharaoh
- 4. Osaki
- 5. Valhalla
- About Astralwerks:
Established in New York City and now finding its new home in the historic Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles, Astralwerks was the brainchild of staffers at Caroline Records who saw an opportunity for a label focused on the emerging electronic and ambient scene. Having reached a milestone of 25 years, Astralwerks has quickly become a modern, artist-first label with a true focus on nurturing talent across the electronic genre and beyond.
Acting with a scalable, independent and global thinking mentality with the capability to tap into the resources of a major label, has allowed Astralwerks to retain and sign up-and-coming artists such as Illenium, Jonas Blue, Alison Wonderland, EDEN, Sigma and Axwell /\ Ingrosso. As a testament to this pioneering approach, Astralwerkshas amassed 30 GRAMMY® nominations, taken home six GRAMMY Awards and had historic releases from the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Swedish House Mafia, Halsey, Porter Robinson, Phoenix, Eric Prydz, Fatboy Slim and many more.