danefergus: Swedish House Mafia's Axwell Drops 'Heart Is King'

Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Swedish House Mafia's Axwell Drops 'Heart Is King'

'It's a track I designed just for my shows,' DJ/producer tells MTV News of the Miami Music Week banger.
By Adam Stewart

Swedish House Mafia's Axwell
Photo: MTV News

After a tremendous showing during this year's Miami Music Week, both as a solo artist and with his Scandinavian brethren in Swedish House Mafia, Axwell released his long-awaited solo track "Heart Is King" on Monday (April 4).

Axwell's fans — and MTV News — have had their eyes and ears peeled for this latest release since he first teased a crowd with it at the Montreux Sundance - Electronic Music Festival in Switzerland last May. The new track is classic big-room Axwell, garnished with spine-tingling strings and a driving, progressive riff.

"It's kind of a neo-classical type of thing," Axwell told MTV News when we caught up with him in Miami. "It's a little like filtered house, and it has this break, [and] a pretty classical type of melody. There's no vocal or anything. It's just like a track I wanted to get out there, something I wanted to get off of my chest for a while. It's a track I designed just for my shows, and [especially] when it's a big show."

"Heart Is King" got a series of live plays at MMW's biggest shows, including Axwell's solo night at LIV, Swedish House Mafia's Masquerade Motel: One Night Stand and Steve Angello's Size Matters showcase, which closed out Beatport Beach. And it was without question one of the week's biggest tracks, eliciting roars from the crowd each time it dropped.

Of course, Axwell has a reputation for bringing it big, and his latest cut is right up there in epic-ness with the other songs from his extensive catalog like "Feel the Vibe" and "Nothing but Love." "Heart" is likely to be just the first of a slew of major Miami tracks to come out of the SHM camp, joining Tim Mason's "The Moment" (set for an April 6 release on Angello's Size imprint) and the trio's new single "Save the World," whose release date has yet to be announced.

All of the new tracks coming from the Swedes and their signees incorporate innovative sounds that vibe with the ever-morphing house-music flavor. As demonstrated on "Heart Is King," Axwell keeps the music fresh but also skillfully harnesses other genres.

"There will always be certain subgenres coming up and down," he said. "But at the end of the day, it's all about the love and the house music and just bringing it! People always come back to mama. They go around, venture around — dubstep, tribal, drum and bass. At the end of the night, when they wanna come home? They come back to house!"

Fans can download the track at Beatport.com.

Did you get to hear Axwell's "Heart Is King" live in Miami? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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