Eagles & Butterflies dives deep into the rave scene with his latest EP, ‘Dopamine Vol. 02,’ released on July 26th. This EP continues the Dopamine series, a collection of no-frills, club-focused tracks from his label, Art Imitating Life. Each release in the series is a sonic narrative straight from his synth bunker in Lisbon.
In ‘Vol. 02,’ Chris delivers a diverse mix of synth pop, breakbeats, and rave anthems. This is the second installment in his DIY Dopamine series, where the English-born, Lisbon-based producer shares music he loves without any fancy gimmicks, delivering it directly from his synths to our ears.
“Dopamine is a series on my label Art Imitating Life, allowing me to release anything I want,” says Eagles & Butterflies. “The focus is on the music I love, without worrying about creating hits or using fancy marketing gimmicks. This release features vintage sounds using my favorite studio toys, including the Korg M1, Roland TB-303, Roland RE-201 Space Echo, and the E-mu Orbit 9090.”
The EP’s euphoric opener, ‘Higher,’ is a 90s-esque trance-infused rave anthem. It sits well alongside the penultimate track, ‘Up All Night,’ which features atmospheric synths, breakbeats, and a distorted vocal refrain, topped with energetic piano stabs.
A hit-maker known for creating “pop music for the dancefloor,” Chris revisits June’s poppy single ‘Runaway’ with a punchier, breakbeat-infused club mix, while ‘Miss U’ adopts a percussive techno groove that descends into acid bassline chaos.
‘Portomento’ is a vintage Italo disco synth fest, similar to ‘Lullaby 02,’ which features a dreamy synth melody and a brooding vintage Italo disco drum machine beat. ‘Soul’ delves deep into warehouse rave territory with a stunning arpeggiating synth melody and powerful drum breaks.
Aside from his hit track ‘Runaway,’ ‘Dopamine Vol. 02’ is Eagles & Butterflies’ first release since April’s massive ‘I Need U.’ Prior to this, fans enjoyed his dramatic remix of Isaie’s ‘Vice II’ and the original ‘Dopamine Vol. 01,’ featuring seven raw, club-ready vintage jams.
Eagles & Butterflies was named Mixmag’s ‘Breakthrough Act of the Year,’ followed by the launch of his own imprint, Art Imitating Life, and significant releases on Innervisions, Life & Death, and Correspondant. He has remixed tracks for artists like Bob Moses with ‘Enough To Believe,’ now boasting 4.3M Spotify streams, as well as RY X, Underworld, and Ludovico Einaudi. The acclaimed producer has been featured on BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix and various Mixmag covers.
This year, Chris has toured the world, performing at venues such as Fabric London, Else Berlin, Core Tomorrowland, and the intimate Nar Cafe in Amsterdam.
Eagles & Butterflies’ Dopamine series is shaping up to be a game-changing collection for the producer. The eight tracks on ‘Dopamine Vol. 02’ showcase a prolific and versatile talent, constantly evolving and creating memorable moments on and off the dancefloor.
Eagles & Butterflies: Instagram | Spotify
