Track Review: Mike Hawkins – Shut The Place Down + More Machines (Free Download)

Shut The Place Down

I’ll admit it: I’ve gotten a little bored by electro-house lately. Thankfully, Mike Hawkins is around to refresh the sub-genre with some of the cleanest and most effective productions I’ve heard to date. I’m incredibly pleased to be bringing two reviews of two of the most exciting tracks in electro-house today.”Shut The Place Down” begins with soothing vocals over a beautiful piano introductions. Jay Colin’s vocals glide over the pumping back beat of the song. They build onto the track without distracting from instrumental. Things get filthy for a heavy, half-time drop. The song packs energy and has officially made it onto my pre-Electric Zoo workout playlist.

I was more than pleasantly surprised by “More Machines,” another incredible track. Playful and intricate synths build-up through the intro while clean and layered synths create a solid melody before the drop of the song. The drop kicks the song into full-throttle with a tumbling bass line while combining the previous elements of the song over it. To me, this track seems to draw a lot of elements from one of my favorite producers, Zedd. This track really showcases Hawkins’ ability to layer different sounds flawlessly. “More Machines” is a prime example of clean and exciting electro-house and hopefully more producers will follow a similar route in the future.

You can download “More Machines” for free today and “Shut The Place Down” is now available on Beatport!

Article by: Daniel Shaw

About the Author

Daniel Shaw Economics student by day, raver by night - Dan hails from Poughkeepsie, but tries to make it into New York City when classes aren't in session to catch a DJ set. Dan is overcommitted and usually sleep deprived, but that wave of emotion sparked by the best of tracks keeps him going. Twitter: @thedanielshaw