SKRILLEX - Soma

Roughly sixty thousand people were reckoned to have turned out to cheer him on in front of the main stage at Primavera Sound 2026, and now he's one of the most anticipated names on the bill for the next Kappa Future Festival in Turin. Headline-level numbers for Skrillex, one of the most influential and respected figures on the electronic scene of recent years. Just a few hours after his Barcelona show, he surprise-released "Soma", a divisive album that's causing a sharp split in opinion between fans and critics. The objections essentially boil down to a shortage of euphoric drops and an excessive reliance on Latin rhythms — which, on closer inspection, are actually the record's real defining feature, setting it clearly apart from other releases by the American producer, already a nine-time Grammy winner and holder of numerous other awards worldwide, and a fixture near the top of the annual Top 100 compiled by specialist magazine Dj Magazine.

Sonny John Moore, his real name, delivers with "Soma" his "global" record, heavily influenced by "world music", particularly — though not exclusively — of Hispanic origin, the fruit of the dense web of collaborations Skrillex has built up over the years. A cross-pollination that now leads him to blend techno and Latin sounds, EDM and Brazilian funk, in a thoroughly natural way. The opener is relentless, the razor-sharp sound design of the title track, shared with Georgian talent Nitepunk, one of the most disruptive figures in contemporary bass music. Blawan, meanwhile, co-stars alongside Randomer and MC Dricka on the ambitious "Thistle". Then, starting with "Tranki", the album takes a decidedly Hispanic turn, with the odd concession to slicker, more calculated moments, as in the case of "Noche Without You" (featuring vocals from Colombian singer-songwriter Feid), which resurrects the famous "Children" by Robert Miles.

Amid the breakbeats of "Scut 2", the brasileira tech-house drift of "E o Bonde", the hyperpop intrusions of "La noche", the hammering pace of "Anybody" and the potential floor-filler "Duro", Skrillex brings it home, though not without effort, and loses a bit of steam towards the end. Far from the adolescent hyperboles of American dubstep, the former LA kid has grown up, having helped deconstruct pop music and even attempted an intellectual route to the dancefloor. Today he aims to chart a course capable of balancing urban neuroses with pop-centric detours, surrounding himself with a hand-picked cast of top-tier collaborators. The result is a bridge stretched between Europe's most à-la-page clubs and the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the logbook of a total producer who makes a few concessions to playlists while still confirming himself as a sound architect of the highest order.

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20/06/2026