Influenced by the Voyager mission and the Golden Record, the drum & bass superstar built a body of work that feels expansive but still tightly engineered, connecting calls into the void with his signature sound. Across his fourth album, he builds a universe that pushes drum & bass into a wider constellation of sounds, arriving as one of his most cohesive and ambitious projects to date.<\/p>\n
Contact<\/em>, he said, is an ode to the drum & bass genre.<\/p>\n “I’m really proud of this one,” Sub Focus wrote in a social media post<\/a>. “Drum & Bass is in such rude health right now – and I wanted to make a full length all about the genre this time around.”<\/p>\n Contact<\/em> opens with \u201cEcuador,\u201d an unexpectedly bright cut with Fireboy DML. The lyric \u201cI\u2019m in outer space, not here anymore\u201d serves as a clear launch pad for the album\u2019s concept, a fast and agile introduction that sets the tone for the journey ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cSo Many Colours\u201d follows as Poppy Baskcomb’s voice climbs over a luminous progression, pushed forward by a pulsing low end. \u201cOriginal Don\u201d then marks the first real plunge into darker terrain. Fireboy DML and Irah steer the track with sharp vocal phrasing while Sub Focus builds a dense, heavy foundation underneath. It\u2019s a track clearly built for massive systems, the kind meant to shake a festival stage.<\/p>\n \u201cElevate\u201d then arrives as a release valve, landing with a lighter touch and a chorus meant for feel-good crowd moments. The energy is still high, but the track offers enough lift to break up the album\u2019s early intensity.<\/p>\n That contrast makes \u201cEntwined\u201d hit even harder. The high-profile collaboration with Grimes shifts the album\u2019s cosmic theme into clearer focus. Her voice drifts in like a signal cutting through static before the production accelerates, shifting into something colder and echoing the album\u2019s fascination with space and the unknown.<\/p>\n \u201cOn & On\u201d brings in bbyclose, who leans into a glossy vocal tone over rapid-fire production that never loses its grip. Sub Focus punctuates the arrangement with brief reprieves that let her voice breathe for a moment before snapping the tempo back into motion. It\u2019s one of the album\u2019s standouts and one of the year\u2019s best drum & bass records.<\/p>\n \u201cGo Back,<\/a>\u201d released last year alongside John Summit and Julia Church, remains the album’s clearest crossover moment. Summit\u2019s house roots shape the first half before Sub Focus pulls the track into a drum & bass sequence that feels both weightless and effortless. Church\u2019s vocal carries the emotional weight, and the tempo shift remains one of the collaboration\u2019s strongest elements.<\/p>\n \u201cWater & Fire\u201d with Connie Constance shifts into a more atmospheric space, opening with airy vocals before the drums take shape. The production flickers with subtle details that keep everything in motion without overcrowding the arrangement. \u201cLost in Heaven,\u201d the album\u2019s sole downtempo moment, gives Emily Makis room to stretch into a smoother, softer delivery. It functions as the album\u2019s breath before the final climb.<\/p>\n \u201cPush the Tempo\u201d and \u201cLet Your Body Rock\u201d reignite the energy, the former landing as a club-minded cut with sharp phrasing from Katy B and the latter acting as a full-throttle sprint designed for the big stages Sub Focus now commands.<\/p>\n \u201cWildfire<\/a>\u201d brings one of the strongest vocal performances on the album, with Jo Hill cutting through the production\u2019s tightly wound energy before the album closes by virtue of \u201cFade,” an atmospheric track that swells slowly before erupting into a rush of frenetic drums. In\u00e9z’s voice grows from restrained to fully released, pulling the album into a final emotional peak before the energy burns off.<\/p>\n You can listen to Contact<\/em> below and find the new album on streaming platforms here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"sub](\"https:\/\/edm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Album-artwork-Sub-Focus-Contact-1024x1024.jpg\")