Vienna by way of Manchester DJ and producer, salute, returns for another addictive collaboration, this time he has teamed up Scottish producer and singer Sam Gellaitry for a floor filling new single ‘maybe it’s u’. This latest offering follows previously released tracks ‘saving flowers’ (with Rina Sawayama) and ‘system”‘ all of which will be included on salute’s forthcoming album TRUE MAGIC due 12th July on Ninja Tune.
The illuminating new single ‘maybe it’s u’ features the slick hook laden vocals from Sam Gellaitry alongside lush pulsing production providing joyous nods to French house sound of the naughties, while providing glimpses of the musical range TRUE MAGIC has in store. Alongside Sam Gellaitry and Rina Sawayama, the album is set to feature Disclosure, Empress Of, Karma Kid, and LéaSen, among others and will see a physical release on cassette, CD, and vinyl, all of which will be available for purchase here.
TRUE MAGIC sees salute embrace a more collaborative approach, renting a house in the countryside to work on the album with their peers. “I took a pop approach to the record,” says salute. “I went in quite blindly just with some loops and ideas but there’s much more of a focus on songwriting and collaboration on this album. In dance music there always seems to be this focus on doing everything yourself but I wanted to get a team around me to develop the ideas I had. One thing I’m really proud of is how organic the work with the collaborators is. I’ve managed to get such a breadth of amazing people on the record.”
Taking aesthetic and auditory inspiration from old Japanese car adverts, which salute spent hours trawling through YouTube archives to find, they developed a concept for the album of driving an old JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) car in a race called TRUE MAGIC. “Watching old TV recordings my parents made on VHS led me to comfort watch old ad compilations on Youtube” they commented, “then eventually old car ads, and finally I stumbled upon old Japanese car ads through a rabbit hole.” This highly visual concept helped propel the sonics of the album forward and give the album a sense of driving momentum.
The album announcement follows their first-ever nomination at the 2024 MOBO Awards for Best Electronic/Dance Act after the release of Felix’s EP ‘Shield’, ‘Shield’ followed earlier singles ‘Joy’ and ‘Therapy’ as well as co-signs from artists including Four Tet, DJSeinfeld, Floating Points, Mall Grab, Daphni, Skrillex, Fredagain.. and more, which solidified them as a cult sensation and set the stage for a bigger album to come.
salute was first initiated into the UK club scene at 18 after moving to Brighton and then Manchester. There, they were given real exposure to club culture, which beforehand, had only been limited to videos on YouTube and Boiler Room. From here they refined their signature sound, pulling from their newfound understanding of genres like grime, garage, and dubstep.
As an artist, salute has continued to build on their impressive live catalogue, including a set at Coachella’s Do Lab stage, Boiler Room Melbourne and four sets at Glastonbury. They made their debut in Asia to an incredible reception, selling out shows in Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo. The shows were b2b with Yung Singh and the Tokyo show saw Rina Sawayama show up as a surprise guest when salute played their collaborative track ‘saving flowers’ to a crowd for the first time. salute has also recently performed with Disclosure in Colombia and Berlin, Mall Gab in London, Hudson Mohawke in LA and supported Jungle on their US tour. Earlier this month, salute performed at Four Tet & Friends Festival and at the Elsewhere rooftop b2b with DJ Seinfeld in NY before heading on their full European run with stops through Manchester, London, Paris, and Barcelona among many others.
‘maybe it’s u’ (with Sam Gellaitry) is out now. Please find touring details below, and stay tuned for more from salute coming soon.
Upcoming Show Dates
02/06 – Dublin, Ireland @ Forbidden Fruit
09/06 – Manchester, England @ Parklife
28/07 – London, England @ Junction 2
02/08 – Copenhagen, DE @ O Days
03/08 – Vienna, Austria @ Paradies Garten
10/08 – Barcelona, Spain @ Brunch
11/08 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Loveland
16/08 – Hamburg, GER @ Dockville
22/08 – Lincoln, England @ Lost Village
06/09 – Dhermi, Albania @ ION
salute and Sam Gellaitry press shot – Credit: Dan Franco
