Elite Force - 4GET: Caught Up In The Moment

‍The Record

I've always loved those end-of-night tunes that unite everyone on the dancefloor with mile-wide smiles. The ones where you look around at your friends and realise everyone is having pretty much the same experience. I've spent a lot of my life on both sides of the decks, and those moments are a huge part of why I still love this music.

That's what I wanted to make with 4GET.

It's my first brand-new Elite Force single of the year, out today, 20 October. I've become quite attached to this one, and I wanted to give it a little more room here to explain why.

Where Elite Force goes next

I've never really wanted to settle into one sound. I like feeling that things are moving forward, even when that means putting something out and being slightly unsure where it's going to land.

4GET has some of that uncertainty around it, and I’m here for it. There are broken, garage-infused drums, analogue synths and melodic stabs, with plenty of rave DNA running through the whole thing. The drums are relatively light, and the bass leaves room for the melodies, but around the halfway point, the arrangement opens up, the key changes, and it heads towards this euphoric, pulsing climax.

That last section is the part I've been especially keen for people to hear. It has the feeling I love in a closing record, where the music can be emotional and uplifting while everyone is still properly dancing.

There's a lot more new Elite Force music coming. This feels like a good place to begin.

The photographs

Over the past few weeks I've been collecting candid photographs from clubs and festivals, taken before mobile phones became such a permanent part of a night out.

The best of them catch people in a state of blissed-out dancefloor oblivion. They're living inside the music, with their friends around them, completely absorbed in whatever is happening in that room.

To me, those faces and moments reflect the essence of 4GET.

Looking through the photographs has also made me think about the freedom of going out with your friends and being largely unreachable for a few hours. You were there until you went home. The people around you had your attention, and so did the music.

I still want that feeling when I go out. I still want to make records that might help someone else find it.

Photo Credit - Mark Rahami

A few faces from the dancefloor

Jeff Straw, Mark Rahami, Mark Sandstorm and Jitesh Mistry have all generously contributed photographs to this release. I've used some of them in the videos and posts around 4GET, and wanted to bring a selection together here so you can spend a bit more time with them.

I love how much these pictures give you to look at. You can get drawn into one person's expression, then notice their friends, then start wondering what was playing when the shutter went.

Huge thanks to all four photographers for letting me share their work.

Your nights out

One of the nicest things about sharing these photographs has been reading your responses.

I've asked about clubs that have disappeared, first nights out and favourite closing tracks, and you've come back with your own memories and conversations. Some of those posts have taken on quite a life of their own. I've really enjoyed seeing how much people still have to say about those nights.

There's an obvious temptation to get stuck talking about how good everything used to be, but I'm more interested in what we still want from a night out, and how much of it we can keep finding in new music, new rooms and new company.

4GET is Out Now. Listen/Buy HERE.