There are a number of things you expect to see in a modern-day music video partly based in a club. Firstly, you'd assume there might be some slow-motion dancing punctuated, perhaps, by retina-burning lasers. There should also be some close-ups of glasses being filled with some name-brand alcohol, and a bit where everything breaks down and the rent-a-crowd's hands all reach skywards en masse. What you don't expect to see is the baby-faced DJ take a break from the knob-twiddling and laptop tomfoolery to start plucking a violin. But that's exactly what Irish DJ Daithí does midway through the video for his excellent new single, Chameleon Life, premiered here. We're not sure exactly why it happens – you can't really hear a fiddle through the blizzard of synth squelches, chopped up vocal samples and pogoing beats – but it's nice to have a unique selling point. Featuring effervescent vocals from newcomer Raye, Chameleon Life has a sophistication that sets it apart from the tsunami of identikit EDM bangers that are out there, riding a wave of euphoria that barely lets up throughout its three and a half minutes.
Chameleon Life is released on 14 June on Sony.
Daithí – Chameleon Life feat Raye: New music
Michael Cragg
Irish DJ and producer Daithí's unique selling point isn't just his euphoric dance music - he also plays the fiddle
Contributor
Michael Cragg
Michael Cragg
is a music writer for the Guardian and Observer as well as contributing
to i-D, Fader and Q. He's also the editor of BEAT magazine.
Michael Cragg
The GuardianTramp
