New York producer and DJ BLKSMIITH steps into a more physical, rhythm-led chapter with his forthcoming album NEW TYPE.
Built around jungle, Chicago house, French house, electro, and the heavy ambience already central to his sound, the project marks an evolution rather than a full reset. After breaking through during the isolation of COVID, BLKSMIITH now pushes outward — toward clubs, cities, travel, friendship, movement, and real-world experience.
With monthly Spotify listeners approaching half a million and tour dates across North America and Europe, NEW TYPE finds him sharpening his identity around dancefloor energy without losing the atmospheric detail that made his earlier work connect.
Across five questions, BLKSMIITH discusses rhythm, nightlife, simplicity, travel, production intent, and how he kept his sound spacious while making it hit harder.
When it comes to production of music, you have to attack it with intent. I purposely tried to make the backbone of my songs less tracks. Some of my favorite songs really only consist of 909 drums, melody, and a bassline.
Q1. NEW TYPE marks a clear move toward club energy. What pushed you to rebuild your sound around rhythm, movement, and physical release?
As much as this is a rebuild, I feel like this is more of an evolution of my sound and where I’ve wanted to head with music. I’ve always listened to garage and house music growing up because of my mom and her friends. It was something I always tried to do, but I felt like I wasn’t quite there, and that comes from overcomplicating things and having so many influences from multiple genres.
Q2. The album pulls from jungle, Chicago house, French house, and electro. What did those older dance music languages give you that your earlier ambient and IDM-leaning work could not?
These other genres really just gave me simplicity and how to make less feel like more. Letting sections of tracks breathe and sit in a pocket rather than making multiple changes happen fast.
I think the biggest thing these genres give is the energy and the actual feeling around the tracks. IDM to me always feels more introspective, something you listen to when you’re walking alone in the rain.
When it comes to house, electro, and jungle, to me it feels more upbeat. You can still listen by yourself, but it feels like a catalyst to be happy and be around people. Those genres make you want to dance and get you going.
Q3. You describe the record as music for the dancefloor, but also for the home, car, or apartment. How did you balance club function with that more personal listening space?
I will always have an IDM influence and an influence from classic songwriting structure, so I feel that it will always blend into whatever I make.
Certain songs on this record I know are gonna be weird for the dancefloor, I can’t lie, but I know that they can still be enjoyed in other environments. The balance really comes from trying not to stray too far from who I am as an artist.
Like I said previously, even though some songs are known for the dancefloor, you can still play them in your personal life and have it as a mood changer.
Like Kerri Chandler’s You’re In My System — in the club or at a rave it hits and brings everyone together, but even if it comes on when you’re doing laundry, you’re gonna have a good time.
Q4. NEW TYPE feels like a step away from online isolation and back into nightlife, cities, and lived experience. How much did the outside world shape the album’s direction?
I spent the last two or three years travelling the world — Argentina, Japan, Thailand, France, Netherlands. I think the experience of being able to enjoy these different places and doing all that with friends is what influenced me to have a more forward and upbeat sound.
When I got recognition for my music, it was during COVID, so being isolated and stuck inside for a couple years really had an effect on the music I was making.
Music plays a big part in memories. I will always remember the song playing in places when something was going on. Like I remember having pizza in Japan with my brother, Tuheij, and Omed. The only reason I really remember is because B.M.F. by Rick Ross turned on in the spot.
Q5. FM PRO TECH Q: You kept the heavy ambience your music is known for while moving into a more minimal, club-focused structure. What production choices helped you hold that atmosphere without overcrowding the tracks?
When it comes to production of music, you have to attack it with intent. I purposely tried to make the backbone of my songs less tracks. Some of my favorite songs really only consist of 909 drums, melody, and a bassline.
One thing that helps with production is just using silence and knowing when to drop things out in a song. In Halloween Havoc 97, the main section doesn’t have a melody sound, but the bass is doing the job of the melody.
At the bridge section, the bass drops out and now you have an airy ambient pad carrying the section.
I feel like composition is the way to not overcrowd tracks. Also thinking of your track in groups of four: bass, melody, drums, and FX.
On a more technical production side, I used a lot of tape emulation to try to glue sounds together. Especially when you have multiple different drum samples that are from different machines, recorded in different rooms, etc, this helps give you a more uniform sound.
I also just like raw saturation, not gonna lie.
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