Felix Cartal gains momentum with Next Season
Vancouver DJ’s latest EDM offering garners good buzz, streaming popularity
Vancouver DJ and EDM producer Felix Cartal brings the beats straight out of New Westminster to the world.
Since his first release Skeleton on Dim Mak Records, he has toured the globe with related acts and released a few albums. His latest release is titled Next Season and dropped this week on Physical Presents.
There’s a good buzz around the album, owing largely to the single Get What You Give which is certified gold in Canada and has gained considerable popularity on streaming services and radio.
Here are five things to know about Next Season:
1: GET WHAT YOU GIVE
It’s an updated cover of the New Radicals’ 1998 hit. It was something of a global one hit wonder situation for the group. We’ve no doubt that Cartal is here to stay.
2: WOMEN’S VOICES
Strong female singers are a part of Cartal’s best songs from the opening track Stop Being Yourself (ft. Gabrielle Current) to Wherever (ft. Coeur de Pirate), he seems to have a real knack for arranging and orchestrating for the specific voices and that keeps what can sometimes be a problem in EDM of sounding the same from happening.
3: IT’S ALL ABOUT THAT BASS
Cartal played bass in punk rock bands back in the day and he seems to have held onto the driving pulse of that music while moving into much more melodic EDM. He’s a fairly emotions-on-the-sleeve lyricist and can drop a near slow ballad into the mix every so often, but this album is really about the club floor and its energy. Not surprising that he’s had Juno nominations.
4: HEAR IT LIVE
This guy is a hard-working DJ and he is all over Canada, the U.S. and even Puerto Rico over the summer. Catch him at Rock the Shores in Victoria on Friday, July 13.
5: IT’S A LONG ALBUM
At 18 tracks in total, Next Season is a real marathon listen. But Cartal mixes a lot of styles to keep things moving. He’s quite a fluid songwriter with an ear for potential singles, just give the R&B handclaps and fingersnaps on Everyone But Me (ft. Daniela Andrade) a spin.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK:
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What are the effects of serious meditation on an electronic music producer? Trance. But with a decidedly dark core that suggests the chanting isn’t working. Michael Kaeshammer: Something New (Linus)
On his 12th recording, this acclaimed singer/keyboardist is getting fully immersed in New Orleans to lay down 11 new, swinging and gumbo-funky tunes.