Two boundary-pushing names from the American bass underground, Minneapolis producer BAINBRIDGE and Denver artist High Zombie, have officially joined forces as SMOKIN POTIONS, introducing their new “dungeoncore” sound with the three-track Tell Me EP on BREAK ROOM.
The project blends the abrasive energy of American bass music with the rhythmic instincts of the UK underground, creating a sound built on gritty textures, aggressive low-end, grime influences, and unpredictable club grooves. Rather than settling into a single lane, SMOKIN POTIONS use Tell Me as a playground for warped sound design and constantly shifting arrangements.
The EP’s title track, “Tell Me,” opens with a futuristic trap framework wrapped in an eerie, cinematic atmosphere. Suspenseful symphonic melodies and pitch-bending synth leads establish an unsettling mood before silky vocals introduce the track’s central question: whether a new connection can live up to an intense chemistry.
That tension doesn’t last quietly for long. As the track progresses, the production splinters into screeching bass, phase-distorted textures, rapid-fire percussion, bouncy club rhythms, bass house grooves, and wonky halftime sections. The constant movement gives “Tell Me” an unstable quality that perfectly matches the duo’s newly coined dungeoncore aesthetic.
The SMOKIN POTIONS collaboration first began taking shape with “WANT U” last year, but the relationship between BAINBRIDGE and High Zombie stretches much further back. The two producers have been working together through their respective solo projects since 2019, collaborating on tracks including “BRIKZ,” “Burial Recipe,” and “Misery Potion.”
Those releases earned support from artists including Illenium, PhaseOne, RIOT TEN, Hekler, JEANIE, Bella Renee, Whales, and Pixel Terror, providing an early indication of the chemistry that would eventually become SMOKIN POTIONS.
The duo have since taken that chemistry beyond the studio. SMOKIN POTIONS made their U.S. debut at Apocalypse Festival in 2025 before making their Canadian debut at Delirium Festival. Upcoming performances include Club Studio Time in Denver, Colorado, with additional dates in Dallas, Texas, and Fargo, North Dakota, still to be announced.
At the heart of SMOKIN POTIONS is an idea borrowed from alchemy. Just as a potion requires the burning away of impurities to reveal its essence, the duo use their project to strip electronic music down to its rawest components and rebuild it into something unfamiliar.
Smoke represents the fleeting and intangible nature of emotion, while potions symbolize the deliberate combination of sounds and words used to alter the listener’s state of mind. That concept runs throughout Tell Me, where the search for truth becomes something much larger—a pursuit of self-discovery and complete transformation.
“SMOKIN POTIONS is here to unleash ‘Dungeoncore’. With the Tell Me EP, we built a sound unlike anything we’ve crafted before. Partnering with Break Room and Insomniac sets the stage for our debut, and the veil is officially lifted. Take a sip and you will see.”
With Tell Me, SMOKIN POTIONS make their intentions clear: dungeoncore is less about following a formula than creating an atmosphere where heavy bass, grime, trap, club music, and experimental sound design can collide.
The Tell Me EP is out now via BREAK ROOM.
SMOKIN POTIONS: INSTAGRAM / THREADS / SOUNDCLOUD / SPOTIFY
BAINBRIDGE: INSTAGRAM / X / FACEBOOK / SOUNDCLOUD / SPOTIFY
HIGH ZOMBIE: INSTAGRAM / X / FACEBOOK / SOUNDCLOUD / SPOTIFY
BREAK ROOM: WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM / X / YOUTUBE / SPOTIFY