Australian producer Dro Carey has drawn from a wide variety of sounds across his past releases, as the influence of the UK underground mixes with his own take on house, techno, and electronica. On his new EP, Dark Zoo, a dance music edge is still evident, but bright pop moments shine through too, never more than on “Queensberry Rules,” premiering below.
As artists like FKA twigs and Kelela have reminded us recently, pop music can still have an experimental electronic edge and a real bite, and Dro Carey’s collaboration with Kučka is another brilliant example of that. From the hard-hitting opening, you might not expect that crisp, clean vocals are just around the corner, but when they do emerge, it’s clear that these two artists know exactly what they’re doing.
“I came across Kučka’s SoundCloud around the time that she was building up to her Unconditional EP, maybe a little before that,” Dro Carey tells us. “She was on my radar as a really interesting artist but this was back before there was even the sense that the next Dro release would have any vocals.”
“Later, after I’d done some demos that were looking like potential vocal collaborations (including ‘Queensberry Rules’),” he continues, “I saw her name come up again one day. I always thought of her as a kind of dream collaborator to take a shot with (I felt that she might already have a lot lined up), so I was honestly a bit surprised when she came straight back after hearing the track and was keen to work on it!’
The Dark Zoo EP is out May 20 via Soothsayer. Listen to “Queensberry Rules” and “Grow Lithe” from the EP below.
