Charlotte Haining on a Monstercat drum and bass cut is close to a cheat code, and Release Me is her cashing it in. Arcando hands her a proper 170 roll and she sits on top, all air and ache, singing the title like a plea. One pass was not enough, so I ran it back.
This is the liquid end, not the jump up filth, so the low end rolls instead of stomping. Her vocal leads and the drums build under it. The part I keep leaning on is the lift, the breakbeat opening up so her voice gets the whole room. Vocal drum and bass lives or dies on the singer, and Charlotte Haining is a safe bet.
None of this is new ground for either. Charlotte Haining is who liquid producers call for real weight, the same lane as her turn on Hybrid Minds’ Brighter Days, and Arcando has worked this feelings-first pocket since Boa. Together on Monstercat they land the polished, heart-on-sleeve DnB you would hope for.
Save this one for the 5am slot, when the tent thins out and the sky goes grey behind the stage. Release Me is out now on Monstercat, built for that hour, the vocal doing the lifting for everyone still on their feet.
