REVIEW: Slumberjack x Machine Age: 'Daggers'

You know the feeling when you’ve just heard a track that you know is going to be huge? The kind of track that makes all your hairs stand on end like a cartoon depiction of electrocution? The ever-so subtle flutter of excitement in your chest? Well, you better be prepared to feel it when ‘Daggers’, the first of what will hopefully be many collaborations between EDM titans Slumberjack and one-man electro-rock phenomenon Machine Age.

The track has all the key components of an anthem in-waiting: tribal-like percussion; vocals that sound like a call to arms and adrenaline-building drops, topped off with euphoric synth riffs. The portion leading up to the drop was made to be played live and it takes some serious restraint to resist throwing your arms in the air and clapping to the beat while shouting along. The feeling is very ‘Saturday Night at Reading and Leeds.’

The lyrics are similarly rousing, detailing the rejuvenation process after the collapse of a toxic relationship. This song is about coming through the other side bruised but resilient, and the importance of the ‘one day at a time’ mentality. It is a profoundly uplifting track but never in a way that feels cheesy.