Udex merges power and melody in latest album ‘Lightshield’ 

Last week, Udex dropped his long-awaited album ‘Lightshield’. He delivers a unique album that oozes his musical vision with 12 brand-new songs, including a remix of his older track ‘Push’. We spoke to the creative DJ about the process of creating the album. “Sometimes I get a melody in my head that I immediately record on my phone by whistling.”

Following ‘Shield of Lights’ on his sub-label Lightshield, Udex decided to compile his signature music into an album. He describes his music style as hardstyle with spice, with the focus on the feeling. “For me, hardstyle should feel like you’re watching a mind-blowing movie that gives you goosebumps.”

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Melodic, powerful hardstyle with a story

The Dutch DJ underscores the importance of featuring melodic, powerful hardstyle with a story in the Lightshield album. He refers to the storytelling that often comes back in hardstyle. “In the past, dialogues were regularly cut from films for the vocals,” he explains. The name of the album, and also the name of its sublabel, appeals to the imagination. “My tracks are almost cinematic. The common thread in the album is a ‘Lightshield’ that must protect humanity, but it is less and less holding up well.”

The presence of storytelling, ‘epic’ atmosphere, hard hardstyle kicks with a good dose of ‘crunch’ and a combination of melodic and harder drops make ‘Lightshield’ a real Udex album, according to the DJ. When he compares the album with his previous albums ‘Corrupted’ and ‘Code Red’, he notices that qualitative steps have been made. “That gives me a lot of satisfaction. In addition, ‘Lightshield’ contains a hardcore track. That was definitely still on my bucket list.”

“I’m not the only one who has a passion for ‘raw’ hardstyle with feeling”

With ‘Lightshield’ Udex delivers a melodic and atmospheric album that does not necessarily fit in with the current changes in the hardstyle scene. Udex has a clear opinion about these changes: “For me, one of the most important basic elements of hardstyle has always been to tell a story and create a cinematic vibe,” he says. “The energy builds up and it comes together in a powerful drop that retains that feeling. In my opinion, we are losing that more and more, especially on the harder side of hardstyle.”

Udex sees the change as unfortunate but holds the belief that there are alternative ways to heighten the impact of hardstyle without compromising its feeling. That’s why he tries to stick to his own vision and not get too caught up in everything. “I’m not the only one who has a passion for ‘raw’ hardstyle with feeling. There are many people who think this is very cool and I am certainly not the only artist who produces in this area.” He refers to the opportunities he has had to make records with B-Front. “The success of ‘Falling’ is proof that this music is and remains alive and well.”

Join Udex for the Lightshield album showcase at Shockerz this weekend. His goal for this set is to create a distinctive atmosphere where the artist-audience connection takes center stage. “Together we create a great atmosphere!” Download the album now on Hardstyle.com.