Los Angeles, Calif.
Song-Driven EDM
www.robertdelong.com

Unlike many other mainstream EDM upstarts, Robert DeLong isn’t just about massive bass blasts and synth whizardry. On his debut album, Just Movement, the young tunesmith explores a more progressive and tuneful style, blending electronics with acoustic instrumentation and pop savvy. “That’s an inevitable hybrid,” DeLong says. “For the longest time, dance music existed in its own culture and world, but it’s crept into the Top 40.” Originally a Seattle native immersed in the “indie songwriter scene,” DeLong was exposed to dance culture after moving to Los Angeles eight years ago. “Dance music was in my periphery,” he reflects. “But as I hung out more and went to parties, I really embraced it.” Just Movement is crammed with transcendent beats and massive choruses, but it’s also lyrically deep, exploring DeLong’s past relationships and struggles with religion. “These songs were born out of – it’s cliché to say an existential crisis – but certainly a period of questioning,” he says. This type of soul-searching and genre-molding isn’t the EDM norm. But DeLong’s forward-looking music promises a long shelf life. “I don’t know,” he says. “It might be a new movement or something.”

Unlike many other mainstream EDM upstarts, Robert DeLong isn’t just about massive bass blasts and synth whizardry…