MAKJ – Worship

• Reminiscent of two earlier Hardwell Edits!
• Bouncy drop with a unique lead signature
• Future Rave influences in the buildup

There’s an unshakeable feeling that MAKJ is near to completion of an album drop, after years and years of working in the EDM industry. Firstly, with his characteristic Electro House trademark, now slightly reworking a former bounce vibe that I’m sure many of our readers will prefer.

So, where are we exactly with this American act? In 2019, after taking a considerable interval, he was back on the scene with massive team-ups with colleagues such as Deorro and Steve Aoki (most of them even received positive word-of-mouth from us!). In 2021 though, we noticed a shift of genre, with four releases on Armada containing the same ‘graffiti’ cover style and Deep House attributes. It’s almost as if MAKJ wasn’t convinced about it, because for the last four months we can observe a constant flux of new Big Room productions, all branded and labeled in a new ‘floral’ cover-art style.

First the dirty “Club Sound”, then the two tracks on Smash The House (“Beautiful Life” with Purari, very KSHMR-sounding and a generic team-up with Bassjackers, “De La Sol”), now “Worship” on Spinnin’ Records. I am suspecting eventual progress towards an album happening because it is particularly difficult to convince other labels to follow the unvaried art style unless there’s a specific project behind it. MAKJ is reviving his classic sound with a series of festival bangers, and after a couple of somewhat decent attempts, we think he has nailed the hammer on the head this time.

“Worship” is a solo release, showing off the pure, simpler Electro House flair we have already heard years back in two Hardwell edits such as “Fifteen” by Blasterjaxx and “Locked & Loaded” by Domeno and Michael Sparks. Honestly, loved that machine-gun sounding loop as I have never heard it before this, thus imagine my surprise listening to it six years later.

Without basing his success entirely on just the nostalgic flavoring used here, “Worship” amplifies the arrangements with an ancillary melody that augments the drop, and a polished set of percussions to go with it. The overall result is a drop that sounds well-stocked, with a slight Future Rave influence sprinkled around the build-up. The vocal can be forgettable, yet it adjusts nicely in the long transition towards the drop, where the lead slowly gets introduced. It’s a tune brimming with stamina, engaging, and daring to do more than required, targeting a specific niche with these mannerisms.

What else is there left to say: MAKJ has the talent and expertise to rejuvenate the forgotten sounds from the “Big Room” era, and I sincerely hope that the outcome will be reunited under a dynamic album!

You can listen to “Worship” here:

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