BELGIAN artist Amelie Lens has taken the electronic music scene by storm over the past few years with her passionate, exhilarating brand of techno.
Amelie now stands shoulder to shoulder with the biggest DJs and producers on the planet and last weekend lined up alongside the likes of Maceo Plex, Solomun, David Guetta and more at EXIT festival in Serbia as the iconic event celebrated 20 years.
EXIT Festival
EXIT is one of the first major festivals to take place post pandemic and was held from 8 to 11 July at the Petrovaradin Fortress. While there were still certain restrictions on entry, the risk of spreading the infection was almost negligible. Only those who had been vaccinated were able to enter the festival or who had a negative PCR or antigen test. The United Festivals of Serbia, led by EXIT and other key members of the Serbian festival scene, subsequently launched a national campaign for youth vaccination, thanks to which the process in the country has accelerated.
In anticipation of EXIT we asked Amelie Lens to talk us through a playlist featuring up and coming artists she admires and is working with across her Lenske and Exhale records labels. Listen and read what she had to say about the music below.
AIROD – Frozen Throne
“I discovered AIROD through bandcamp and was playing his tracks since several months before we started talking about a release on Lenske. Frozen throne is one of my favourite tracks he made and was released on his debut EP on Lenske. I think this EP really shows what an amazing producer he is.”
Klangkuenstler – Engelsblut
“Exhale records for me really is about giving a platform to artists I believe in and want to support, keeping the energy high like on our Exhale events. When I heard this track the first time, I immediately knew I wanted to sign it on the very first Exhale VA, perfect track of beautiful melodies combined with high energy drums.”
Ahl Iver – Danger Close
“I put a temporary email online for young producers to send me their music, out of 4000 mails I stayed in touch with a handful of artists and Ahl Iver was one of them. He had just started producing, technically he still had to learn a lot but the ideas were always there. We stayed in touch and 1 or 2 years later he was ready for his debut EP on Lenske. He is really focussed and passionate and it’s been amazing to watch his fast progress and to see him become the great producer he is today.”
Raven – Metal On Metal
“This track is fast, trippy with a beautiful vocal “I like my music hard like metal on metal”, I fell in love with it immediately and I’m so glad I got to sign it on our label. She is an incredible artist with huge potential and cannot wait to watch her grow in the next years.”
Milo Spykers – Accelerator
“It was always a dream to have my own label, but when Milo send me his tracks was when I decided to actually do it. He was still a young producer back then, but I could hear the potential and just wanted to start a small label family with artists I believe in. Besides being a great producer he is also a very talented DJ and probably one of the nicest guys you will ever meet!”
Felicie – The Devil Himself
“Felicie is a young producer from Paris, playing and producing heavy techno. This track is the perfect mix between her heavy and dark sound and the sound we want to bring with Exhale. It’s weird because I have spoken so much with her the last year but because of the pandemic we have never actually met!”
Farrago – Kidney Shot
“This track is such a journey! One of my favourite tracks of Farrago that he released on Lenske, it’s one of the very few tracks that I play for more than 3 minutes in a set because there is just so much happening and energy shifts.”
Gräfin – Chatty Echoes
“Gräfin is an artist from Turkey who played Exhale in Istanbul, I think it’s super important when playing in another city to always try to support the local scene and artists. Grafin is an amazing artist and I’m so glad we signed this beautiful track to Exhale!”
MRD – Reach My Hand
“MRD is one of the craziest producers I know, he is like a full band in one person and you can hear this in his music. It has lot’s of influences from different genres, he is also doing his own vocals. Insane track!”
Xiorro, Adrestia – Hearing Colors
“Xiorro is a young producer from Brooklyn, he played the guitar and the keys with vocals by Adrestia! We mailed a lot back and forth about what track we should sign to Exhale and eventually it was “Hearing Colors” I really like how this track is a journey and love the drums! I’m happy to have this upcoming talent on the label and hope he can play for us in Europe soon!”
