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Music

Digitalism's Brash, New "Roller" Proves the Duo Hasn't Lost Any Edge

We talked with Hamburg's finest about the comeback tune and details on their forthcoming album.
Jemayel Khawaja

"Imagine waiting at the platform of a roller coaster," Jense and Isi of Digitalism begin. "The cars roll into the station. Jump in. Strap in. Launch. And from there it's all wobbles, ups and downs and a lot of horse power on those rails. It all becomes a bit blurry. Then there's one of those bits where the cars climb up a steep hill and then descend into the abyss. It's very locomotive, the whole thing."

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If you haven't clocked on yet, the Hamburg duo are describing the visceral sensations of their new track "Roller." Released on PIAS on June 8, the tune is a brash house number with shuffling hi-hats and a crushing, distorted synth line that's so dirty, it'll have you reaching for the kleenex. The tune was announced today:

"Roller" is the first hint fans have gotten about the duo's upcoming record––But don't expect too many more. "We cannot tell you anything, but we're not hibernating," they say. "Musically, we've had quite a journey since our first record. But then, it can also be exciting to go back to where you're coming from––Which is why we spend a lot of time in our Hamburg WWII bunker studio. There's no windows, you know, so there's no outlook. You have to come up with it yourself. And you have to be loud in there, because the walls are three feet thick."

Digitalism are from Hamburg, a city with a long tradition in dance that only seems to be growing deeper as acts like Solomun and Boys Noize continue to fly the Northern German city's flag. "People from Hamburg are said to be rather cold and reserved, maybe that's a Nordic thing as we're close to Scandinavia," explain the duo. "They would say 'Nah, there's nothing going on here,' but in fact the city was a major hub for House and Garage music in the 1990s and a lot of big artists emerged from it over the past years; underground electronic labels like Papa Records, or Diynamic, artists like Solomon, Tensnake, DJ Koze –– they're all touring the globe now and have commercial success. And a lot of young new talents are in the pipeline. So, Hamburg, no it's not exactly quiet."

Well, when everyone in the city starts blasting "Roller" like we are, it's going to be a very noisy place indeed. Pre-order the tune here.

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