Brightest Lights

If festival-sized EDM needs a soothing balm as it moves into the 2020s, the genre just might find relief in the music of Denver's Lane 8. Over the course of three albums, the producer born Daniel Goldstein has honed a pop-friendly melodic house sound that finds its strength in texture and restraint. On his third LP (and second on his own This Never Happened label), subdued instrumentals like “Just” and “Howling Hand” burrow deep into cosy synth atmospherics, with metronomic ticks so subtle they’re like the flickers of a flame. Even when he pairs up with Minneapolis synth-pop combo POLIÇA or British alt-rock trio Arctic Lake on a handful of songs, things remain delicate. It’s in these collaborations, especially the blissed-out end-of-the-night track “Don’t Let Me Go”, where Goldstein taps into a euphoria that's more about emotion than a rollercoaster of builds and drops—proof that a tune doesn’t have to bang to move a crowd.