The Chainsmokers Team Up With NGHTMRE To Release Savage Bass Track – ‘Save Yourself’
The Chainsmokers have been working overtime in 2018. While touring the world Alex and Drew still found the time to lay down two EPs worth of new music. Each track explored a different area for the duo. Some tunes were pop-oriented, others fell entirely in the electronic paradigm. Their latest track with NGHTMRE once again gives fans the unexpected.
The Chainsmokers & NGHTMRE – ‘Save Yourself
‘Save Yourself’ wastes no time dropping into a brutal dubstep drop. Pulling inspiration from Riddim and trap producers, this single stands out in a big way. This is exactly the kind of collaboration that makes sense on paper too, NGHTMRE has spent years building a reputation as one of the most respected bass producers in the game, whether through his solo catalog or his Gud Vibrations imprint and events, so pairing him with a duo looking to reconnect with their heavier roots is a smart move for everyone involved.
Having seen The Chainsmokers at Ultra 2018, it is clear that the guys are working hard to win back fans who were turned off by their focus on pop productions. That Ultra set leaned hard into festival-ready bass and house cuts, and ‘Save Yourself’ feels like a direct continuation of that direction on record. It’s a reminder that before the radio hits and the arena tours, Alex and Drew came up remixing and producing club tracks, and that background is still very much in their DNA.
The track lands as part of the duo’s ongoing ‘Sick Boy’ era, which has already given us a title track that leaned much more pop and radio-friendly, so hearing ‘Save Yourself’ swing hard back toward bass music within the same rollout really drives home how much range Alex and Drew are trying to flex right now. It’s a bit of a whiplash moment in the best way, one minute you’re getting a chart-ready pop hook, the next you’re getting a full-on dubstep drop, and that contrast is very intentional.
‘Save Yourself’ might just be the song that wins back the old school Chainsmokers fans. Between the two EPs they’ve dropped this year and now this collab, it really does feel like the duo is trying to show both sides of who they are as artists rather than picking a lane and sticking with it. Whether that strategy pays off with the broader fanbase remains to be seen, but for bass music heads who have been waiting for the Chainsmokers to get weird again, this is a very welcome sign.
Check out the new single below.
