“When we began writing this album, we decided to make the music we wanted to make and not worry about it fitting in anywhere,” Lars Dales tells Apple Music. “We allowed ourselves to be open to all genres.” As Dutch duo Dam Swindle, Dales and producer Maarten Smeets have spent 15 years filling dance floors across the globe with their distinct blend of euphoric melodies, reverberating synths, and uplifting house rhythms. Yet, on their third album Open, they decided to break their sonic mold, and create something unexpectedly new. The result is 14 journeying, deeply expressive tracks traversing everything from the melodic ambience of opener “Home” to the UK grime textures of the title track, uptempo house beats of “I Need You,” and dub-laden explorations of “Closer.” Throughout, the pair also extend their list of collaborators to include British rapper Samson, Ethiopian singer Haile Supreme, and Dutch composer Joep Beving. “We’re in our forties now and this record is a personal journey expressing not only being open to other music but also to new people and opinions,” Smeets says. “That’s a message we want people to take away when they listen, to be open to each other.” Read on for Dam Swindle’s in-depth thoughts on the album, track by track. “Home” Lars Dales: “This track started out as a kind of sonic exploration led by Maarten and hasn’t changed that much overall. We felt like there needed to be a moment to elevate it though, and so we took inspiration from having Tom Misch solo on our previous song, ‘Yes, No, Maybe’ [from 2018’s High Life], which really changed the tone of it. We got in touch with our friend Valentijn Bannier, who’s an incredible guitarist, and he delivered a great solo, all recorded in the first take. It transforms the song.” “Not Enough” (feat. Haile Supreme) Maarten Smeets: “We started this one with a really cool loop from a soul track and built it to be sample-heavy, until we discovered Haile Supreme’s music through his work with Nightmares On Wax and realized that his falsetto would be so nice over the instrumental. We got in touch with him, took out the samples, and recorded the whole thing again with live keys, trumpet, and flutes. I cried when he sent his demo over since it was completely perfect.” “The Present Is Always Perfect” LD: “This one was on the shelf for a very long time because we had a bunch of tracks that felt too floaty and atmospheric, and while we both loved them, it seemed like they would never fit in anywhere. We eventually decided it needed to be on the album because it’s the perfect house track that’s still us but with an added dreaminess and atmosphere to it. It sets up the rest of the record really well.” “Girl” (feat. Faye Meana) MS: “‘Girl’ has the most classic Dam Swindle percussion and groove on the album. We initially used vocal samples chopped in, but the longer we worked on it, the more it felt like it would be better as a stripped-back beat for a vocal. I had listened to one of Faye Meana’s tracks and realized that if I pitched it down, her pre-existing vocal would work perfectly over this beat. We ended up sending it to her and asked if she could do something similar and she was cool. We recorded it in two hours in London.” “Run, Run, Run” MS: “This track is our electronic exploration with Detroit keys, mainly using the Prophet-6 synth. We worked with Boye Ingwersen, who makes music in our studio complex, and he’s jazz trained on the keys so that means he really elevates every track he’s on with his chops—he takes the atmosphere to the next level. On ‘Run, Run, Run,’ his playing sucks you into a new microcosm.” “Only Ever Now” LD: “‘Only Ever Now’ feels like new territory for us since it’s a synth-heavy, upbeat track—something that feels like a Daphni tune or the UK in summer. We came up with it when we were in Vancouver gigging and Maarten showed me the track during some downtime between shows. I ended up creating the chord progression, and then we sped the whole thing up to be super club-ready while keeping the groove very ‘us.’” “Open” (feat. Samson) LD: “We had the instrumental for this down from the very beginning but then we ended up trying so many different vocals on it that it became the last track we finished. People kept picking up on the softness of the track but we thought it had more of a grimy underbelly and, at some point, I realized we needed a UK rapper to convey that. Maarten got in touch with Samson, who really liked the instrumental but said it was a difficult tempo to rap over. His approach is what we needed and it’s since become one of my favorite tracks on the album.” “I Need You” MS: “When I showed this track to Lars, he immediately picked out the synth arpeggio arp as the element that the entire track needed to be centered on. We changed the arrangement to get the delivery of that moment hitting just right and now, every time we play this live and that sound comes in, it’s a warm bath of synth energy which feels so unexpected for our sound and a club setting.” “Bloom” (feat. Joep Beving) MS: “Lars was having a random studio jam on the keys and came up with this really nice piano loop. It felt like it could use another player on it though and since I know Joep Beving, I thought he would be perfect. He’s super busy and successful so I wasn’t sure he would say yes to a collaboration but, within a day, he decided to do it. He records everything on his grandmother’s piano in his studio, and to be present with him and see him play on that was incredible.” “Some Day” (feat. Ric Wilson) LD: “This was one of the hardest tracks to make on the album. It’s a demo I came up with a long time ago and, while recording with Ric was really easy, since he’s such a ball of energy and wrote the lyrics in one afternoon, the mix took something like 70 versions to get right. It’s sonically different from the rest of the tracks on the album but it gets stuck in your head and elevates from melodramatic to upbeat so well.” “Kiki” (feat. LYMA) MS: “‘Kiki’ started out as a house track and then it became electro and, finally, we asked a band we know in San Francisco, Hablot Brown, to record some live instrumentation on it and that eventually made it work. Their recordings were lo-fi but it’s nice because the tiny mistakes give it character and make sure that the record doesn’t sound overproduced. LYMA’s vocal also sucks you straight in since the lyrics are so emotional and heartwarming.” “Is This Love?” MS: “At this point in the album, we were having a bit of an identity crisis about what the album is and who we are as producers and a group now. We decided that we needed one more house track and this is what emerged in a couple of hours, creating a synth-heavy, bouncy, and upbeat number that feels very much like us.” “It’s Okay, I Can Wait” LD: “For the last two tracks on the album, we’re gradually winding down and this slows things immediately with a perfect vocal sample vibe and a great synth solo that brings to mind a warm hazy day where you don’t want to do anything but chill and lie in the sun.” “Closer” MS: “‘Closer’ came about when we were having a bit of a dubby exploration and this is pretty much the first, unchanged version we recorded. The track has a raw energy to it because it feels so close to the demo. Our friend Bo Floor came in to play trumpet because we felt it needed a longer arc like ‘Home’ and he always delivers—you can really hear how his distinct way of using harmonies makes this track.”