Grab your ears, mau5keteers. Dad deadmau5 brought some of his favorite kids through to show off their many talents with a new compilation. mau5ville: Level 1 features two new deadmau5 songs, a handful of killer remixes, and new originals from GTA and Getter. It’s a little bit serious, a little bit silly and ready to bring something for everyone.
It starts with “Monophobia,” the highly-anticipated new collaboration from deadmau5 and Pendulum frontman Rob Swire. The “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff” duo bring dance music’s current dialogue on mental health to life over a pounding beat with synth-heavy melodies. Swire sings the importance of talking to our friends, because no one has to be alone, especially not when a rhythm like this calls us all to the floor.
It’s followed by Getter’s “All Is Lost,” a slow building exploration of deep feelings that erupts into bright melodies and hard drum hits in a future bass style, featuring woeful vocals from nothing,nowhere. GTA puts the spring back in the compilation’s step with “Something Like This.” It’s a wacky tune with serious guts for really dope dancers who aren’t afraid to get dumb.
The compilation rounds out with a few remixes of “Monophobia.” The first is a deep instrumental take from mau5trap start-up Rinzen. Next is an extended, percussive-heavy take from Latroit with plenty of strange synth stutter. ATTLAS gives the song an expansive, almost ambient touch. The EP finishes with a 10-minute extended mix of “Monophobia” from the mau5ster himself, but not before deadmau5’s second new song “Nyquist,” a song composed of down-tempo piano and dark textures kind of like trying to fight the sads when falling asleep on Nyquil.
Don’t forget that deadmau5 celebrates the release of mau5ville: level 1 with a livestream performance of Monophobia and a bunch of fun Twitch content via his channel and Twitch’s Battlegrounds at 2 p.m. ET. Listen to mau5ville: level 1 and tell a friend what you feel below.
