Fresh off releasing his latest album Notes From The Underground a month ago, High Contrast’s remix turns the heat up and adds extra power to the main drum’n’bass elements of the track. Maintaining the original melodies and gentle tones of the single, it subtly replaces parts of the instrumentation with more conventional electronic tropes, resulting in a more energetic and upbeat club hit. The Sub Focus & Wilkinson VS High Contrast Remix of ‘Freedom‘ was released earlier today, 8 January, and is available to listen and download on all major streaming platforms here.

The @subfocus @WilkinsonUK VS High Contrast remix of Freedom is out now! Listen in full here https://t.co/XPB4K5Jaa2 pic.twitter.com/nraRkNEYmd

— High Contrast (@HighContrast) January 8, 2021

Barrett has been active for more than 20 years, using his widely recognised artistic nickname High Contrast since 2000 when he also signed for Hospital Records. As the renowned London-based independent label describes him, he “needs no introduction any more” since “the Welsh wonder has smashed his way through the D+B scene and has become one of its iconic and much respected heroes“. A leading name in the UK electronic scene, High Contrast has released seven studio albums and 2 EPs, and has taken parts in various remix collaborations and compilations, including the Isles of Wonder, the official soundtrack of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The Welsh DJ dropped his latest record Notes From The Underground on 4 December 2020 via 3 Beat Production where he signed back in 2016 for his previous album Night Gallery. Yet another strong release with powerful guests and somewhat oldschool approach, the album features 14 tracks that seemlessly blend contemporary electronic music, liquid funk and jungle beats. Notes From The Underground is still relatively fresh, but has already seen positive reviews from fans and critics, with DJ Mag commenting on the album that “sees him draw on sounds and techniques from the modern d&b scene’s junglist roots” while The Arts Desk calls it “a deep, elegaic and occasionally beautiful listen“.

Today’s the day, Notes From The Underground is finally out! Stream/buy/download from here https://t.co/AgxryObloc So glad the beast 2020 didn’t eat this release. Hope you enjoy this trip through the digital jungle pic.twitter.com/eYypX3mpFD — High Contrast (@HighContrast) December 4, 2020

‘Freedom‘ is the fourt track from Portals, the critically acclaimed recent team-up between the genre titans Sub Focus and Wilkinson. Released on 9 October 2020, the album was the successful result of the two DJs’ isolated collaborative work at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in the inspiring rural surroundings of Bath.

The record featured the huge singles ‘Illuminate‘, ‘Just Hold On‘, ‘Air I Breathe‘ and ‘Turn The Lights Off‘ and managed to reach #68 in the Official Albums Chart while naturally topping the UK Dance Albums Charts. ‘Freedom‘ is the fifth official single from Portals, released today alongside High Contrast’s fresh remix of the track.

In a thorough overview of the ceremony, the leading electronic label and promoted UKF rightfuly states that the results “reflect resilience, talent and innovation this year, and the awards try to show respect to this as much as possible. No single ceremony can congratulate all those worthy in the scene, but the Drum&BassArena Awards certainly does its best to celebrate as many talented individuals as possible” The full ceremony alongside all interviews and acceptance videos can be seen on the YouTube video bellow.

As stated in the official Drum&Bass Arena Awards’ website, all winners have been exclusively selected by electronic public votes, with the exception of the Hall of Fame Award given by fellow DJs and industry professionals, and the Critics Choice Award chosen by bloggers and writers. As usual, the awards were heavily dominated by British producers, with few international honorary mentions such as the Australian drum’n’bass giants Pendulum who won their first ever prize for Best Live Stream for their live performance at Spitbank Fort back in October, and then followed it by also winning the Best Track award for their killer comeback ‘Driver‘ from September 2020.

Without any surprises, the biggest winner of the night was the renowned London independent label Hospital Records who won the Best Label award for seventh consecutive year and also claimed the Best Event for their Hospitality series across the UK. Three members of their extensive current roster also managed to claim prizes for their individual accomplishments, with Metrik winning the prestigious award for Best Producer, Inja being voted as Best MC and the Brazillian DJ S.P.Y going home with the prize for Best Remix for his re-work of ‘You Got Me‘ by Kings Of The Rollers, also signed for Hospital Records.

Huge congratulations to @MetrikMusic, @injamusic, @KOTRTWEETS and @SPYDNB for being recognized for their wonderful work this year, and thank you so much for voting for us, to all of our fans across the world and to @OfficialDnBA pic.twitter.com/3CnMTIJPEk

— Hospital Records (@HospitalRecords) December 10, 2020

In the other categories voted by the general public, Alex Mark Calvert knows as A.M.C was honoured as Best DJ following a productive 2020 and praised worldwide by for the likes of Insomniac for “his attention to detail, technical articulation and patience paying off more and more with every year“. Best Newcomer for the last year was the rising Dutch producer Waeys who dropped his EP Objection via Overview Music, while the Best Newcomer Label was the Bristol-based Sofa Sound. Dutch heavyweights Noisia’s very own Noisia Radio was selected as Best Podcast.

With regards to full studio records, the main award for Best Album went to British d’n’b/jungle DJ Shy FX’ Raggamuffin Reloaded, a remix compilation of his critically acclaimed Raggamuffin Soundtape (2019), beating Metrik’s Ex Machina and Alix Perez’ Without End. Halogenix’ EP Dragon Force was chosen for Best Artwork, courtesy of Bertie Simpson. Last but not least, Katie Boyle from the leading drum’n’base duo Koven deservedly snatched the prize for Best Vocallist following her versatile vocal display in Butterfly Effect (2020).

 

 

 

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For the two industry-selected rewards, Jumpin Jack Frost was honoured with the Hall of Fame reward while Doc Scott won the Critics’ Choice Award on the 12th Drum&Bass Arena Awards.