Nihil Young and James De Torres (pictured above) are coming at “NGL” from pretty different places, and that is what gives the track a clear identity. Young has hip-hop and D&B in his background, while De Torres came up through trance before moving into melodic techno. The record lets those histories stay visible inside one club track.
That gives “NGL” a useful spot in a DJ set. It sits at 127 BPM and uses a raw hip-hop vocal as the main hook. Bouncy bass and punchy drums keep the low end moving, while the psychedelic details stop the production from feeling too clean.
James De Torres and Nihil Young’s Backgrounds Are the Whole Point
Young describes his side of the collaboration as rawer and more bass-heavy. De Torres brings the cleaner touch that came from years of trance and later progressive music. What I like is that the difference remains intact throughout the record.
De Torres studied production in New York and held DJ residencies in Beijing and Tulum. His event-production work at Hï Ibiza and Zamna also gave him a close view of how records hold attention in large rooms, which fits a track designed for late-night and peak-time use.
He has also explained the studio side of his work through seven plugins he uses for dance music production.
The Hip-Hop Vocal Does a Lot of the Work
The vocals are the first thing that gives “NGL” a different feel from a standard melodic techno record. It adds attitude while keeping the arrangement aimed at the club.
The D&B influence is handled similarly. It comes through the sound design and the movement around the bass, so the track can carry that history without turning into a genre exercise. The psychedelic processing gives those sections a looser edge and keeps the production playful.
The bigger idea is pretty simple: the record keeps each reference useful. The hip-hop side gives it personality, while the melodic side keeps the pacing controlled.
Frequenza Keeps It Close to Nihil Young’s Own History
The release is out on Young’s Frequenza label, which fits, as the track draws on influences he brought into electronic music as a DJ.
That same willingness to pull from nearby styles showed up on “Neon Ghost,” his Frequenza collaboration with Xenia Dia. “NGL” moves further toward a club-first sound, with the raw vocal and bass-led production doing most of the identity work.
Nothing about the track feels overly serious, and that seems intentional. It is made for the point in the night where the room wants energy, and it still keeps enough personality to avoid feeling like filler.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
