Notion – Forwards

Returning from his US/CA tour earlier this month in the midst of a packed summer schedule, established UK dance music DJ-producer NOTION shares his ‘FORWARDS’ mixtape that showcases his journey of self exploration as he moves ‘forwards’ with a fresh and versatile sound.

Having teased the highly anticipated project throughout 2024 with multiple singles and collabs, the Bristol based producer now unveils the full mixtape that spans garage, house, breaks, jungle and beyond. Widening the net in his sound that was originally rooted in bass music, NOTION’s ‘FORWARDS’, marks a continuation of his growth and versatile palette following the success of ‘OUTSIDER’ back in 2022 that also saw him push himself creatively and connect the music with visuals.

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Introducing a new and evolved NOTION, ‘FORWARDS’ continues to push this fresh direction forward, marking a more personal project to the DJ-producer both musically and creatively. Not influenced by current trends and how music and art is consumed, NOTION delivered the mixtape with only one goal in mind, to prioritise art over the algorithm:

“I hate the way all art seems to get reduced down to 15 second clips now and the songs on this project, all the music videos and everything else are kind of a fuck you to all that disposable culture and I hope something that still sound (and look) as good in five years as they do now.” – NOTION

The new mixtape features previous singles ‘FEEL LIKE ME’, ‘TEMPORARY FRIENDS’ with Charlotte Plank, ‘BACKBONE’ with Olivia Rose, ‘TV DREAMS’, ‘GRAVITY’ and ‘THINK ABOUT U’ as well as never heard before club cuts like ‘STYLING’ ‘SECRETS’ and ‘LITTLE STEPS’. NOTION describes the project as a mixtape born from club music but with a personal touch and a better representation of who he is as an artist today. It’s a project that feels just as much at home driving at 2AM on the motorway as it does in the early hours of a packed dance floor.

Also sealing the approval of industry peers, the release so far has received praise from the likes of Sammy Virji, Conducta, salute, Disclosure, Ewan McVicar, Ben UFO, Floating Points and more. Constantly shaping his sound, NOTION has continued to rack up millions of streams to his name. His viral hit ‘Found Love’ reached Silver Certification amassing over 43M streams whilst his first collaborative single this year, ‘Was It Enough’ with Eljé, has achieved over 200K plays and support from Jaguar, Charlie Tee, Jeremiah Asiamah and BBC Introducing across BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra plus more.

Whilst on the road, NOTION’s in demand sound saw him return for his second US/CA  tour this year including HARD Summer in Los Angeles, Elsewhere in New York and Chasing Summer Festival in Calgary, Canada. Back on home soil, he’s had his busiest year yet that included  Love Saves The Day in Bristol, making his Glastonbury debut on the NoWhere stage b2b with Oppidan, The Cause in London, Leeds Festival plus his ‘FORWARDS’ UK tour kicking off in Autumn this year at Hidden, Manchester, Thekla, Bristol, and Venue MOT in London.

This September he will return to AU/NZ for a special eight date tour as he takes his ‘Dance Dubs’ project to the other side of the world following the success of last years run of shows at  Beyond the Valley with over 10K people in attendance at his set, Wildlands, Field Day, and Hidden Lakes. His long standing Dance Dubs project consists of exclusive unreleased tracks across Soundcloud and Bandcamp primed for the dance floor, recently getting the support of Ben UFO and Joy Orbison at Dekmantel. His Skepta dub on Soundcloud  reached over 500K plays, with many more in the catalogue causing a stir amongst fans and fellow DJs and has allowed NOTION to build a loyal fanbase with over 2K fans signing up to his broadcast community.

Nailing multiple genres effortlessly as he delivers his most authentic, experimental and valuable work yet, ‘FORWARDS’, marks NOTION’s biggest and most impressive release to date.