What’s Nicky Romero Doing?

Today I teamed up with @edmrevnik for reviewing two of Nicky Romero’s recent releases that we found worth of attention. In the past we have criticized the lack of creativity of the Dutch producer, who decided to focus on easy, cash-grabbing Progressive tracks… Something has changed, maybe?

Back To Where We Started w/ Afrojack
83/100

Let’s begin with “Back To Where We Started”, a clear return to the roots featuring the long-term friend Afrojack. The titles says it all: the duo brought back the good old Dirty Dutch House style of the 2010’s, mixing it with a slight Tech House bassline. Personally, I loved the nostalgic feeling, the complex work on the melody and the way the two styles blended together. The breakdown was a kind of turn off, as it follows a Techno theme without experimenting too much, but the final buildup was really worth the wait.

I’m definitely satisfied by Nicky and Nick, who teamed up in a clever way. This is probably their best result in terms of creativity and quality of the outcome.

For The People w/ Third Party
86/100

True to word, “For The People” is a synergistic endeavor between the stalwarts Nicky Romero and Third Party to please the vox populi. While one could be deceived about the collaboration, knowing that both the parties involved here have made significant contributions to the realms of Progressive House. For a fresh change of pace though, the trio,thought of an experiment that would contrast with their usual signatures. While the Protocol label-head has been presenting a mixed array of commercial dance and tech house releases lately, the British pair on the other hand has divulged into melodic house and techno. To say the least, not most saw this one coming.

Tuning into a rave mentality, the dirty Electro-house inspiration takes the cake. Right from the intro, the atmosphere is throbbing with electricity and wastes no time in positioning the listeners into the explosive drop sequence. Hyped vocal chants and a short riser later, an aggressive bunch of distorted and mono-lead synths seizes the performance, thrusting themselves with a linear but appealing groove. It resembles mostly to a dystopian and mid-tempo Electro record minus the
bulkier synths.

There’s quality in the bassline, an aggressive attitude for the whole duration, and lots of fun. Very nice!