RIOT is mobbing back over to Gud Vibrations with their follow-up single, “Down With Your Love.”
After gnawing on the minds of the masses with a dancefloor-devouring label debut, “Herbivore,” the Los Angeles-based duo returns to NGHTMRE and SLANDER’s lauded imprint with an equally hyped offering. This time around, however, RIOT flirts with a more accessible aesthetic, juxtaposing a saccharine topline and soothing melodic hook with the type of head-splitting raucous they’ve become notorious for shaking up the bass scene with. A progression of lilting music box notes moves in a circular fashion around talkbox phrases, until the listener is carefully caressed by a vocal loop calling out the track’s namesake. Like a rush of endorphins flooding the brain, RIOT enhances the mood through a dizzying cocktail of high-intensity acid riffs and skittering drum hits that bleed seamlessly into a blaring synth sequences made all the better by clever chopped up vox. The melodic lead and crisp 808s come back in to create a much-needed lull, before descending straight into a second fling of fervent switch-ups and crazy call-and-response sections.
“We know these are stressful times, so we wanted to fuse some pop with hard hitting dubstep to bring a little smile to everybody’s day,” says RIOT. “Had fun working on this one and we really hope it brightens up your day! Stay safe everyone.”
It has been a couple of months and some change since Tom Davidson and Daniel Magid, the brains behind the operation, were ecstatic about dropping their inaugural Gud Vibrations record—due in no small part to the fact that the track came about from a pivotal paradigm shift in their personal lifestyles during the height of the quarantine lockdown. As they make their second appearance this month, RIOT builds on a healthy catalog that has seen them take their signature sound to a whole host of camps, including Monstercat, Kannibalen Records, Welcome, and the list continues to grow. “Down With Love” is a solid addition to RIOT’s explosive discography, and one that will have you wrapped around its finger for the foreseeable future.