Listening to the smooth tunes that are out at the minute and thinking to yourself… “Hmmmm, there’s just something about this that makes me wanna flow, makes me wanna get up, makes me wanna moooove”?

Disco glitter balls

Yep… that might just be disco - but not the disco of the 70s as you know it.

That might just be the sweet sounds of the new breed of disco at your ears, blowing up the airwaves, invading your speaker space, all over your feed, a TikTok must-have, a club bounce, and even your grandma humming along.

With its origins in the 1970s (think Chic’s perennial track Le Freak, or Kook and the Gang’s Get Down On It), this new sound has a distinctly 2020s pop flavor. And we’re here for it.

Okay, we get that not all people may love this genre of music. It’s an acquired taste. However, it’s also the type of music category that can easily grow on you - with the right tune, of course! Whether you’re a boomer reminiscing on some good times, a millennial who just loves this type of music or simply a GenZ who wants to mix their Spotify playlist up - you’ll certainly be in for a treat. And, it doesn’t have to be classic disco music. In case you missed it, Disco music is making a comeback - and in more ways than one - because there are even online slots based on this awesome dance genre. In reality it’s not just music - but an entire subculture!

Is it Nu Disco?

Well you could call this sound Nu Disco - and Beatport certainly might if it’s a remix - it’s more like pop-tinged disco-flavored goodness, or even RnB/hip hop tinged if you want to reference Lizzo’s chart smashing About Damn Time.

Nu-disco isn’t even new disco, per se. Back in the early 2010s we had a similar revivalist period with smooth jams by Daft Punk (featuring Pharrel with the ever-present Get Lucky and even big boss Giorgio Moroder and legend Nile Rodgers).

Into the disco pop sphere

Kylie Minogue's been running her disco-flavored pop practically forever, playing up her gay icon status with hits like Your Disco Needs You (2000) and even a whole album title Disco in 2020.

However the current queen of disco pop is without a doubt Dua Lipa, who, funnily enough, did a 2020 collab with Kylie in the stardust feeling Real Groove. Her 2020 Future Nostalgia album is a pop tribute to disco that we still can’t get out of her heads two whole years later. And the biggest hit off the album, Levitating, was not only the number one Billboard Hot 100 song of 2021, but it was the longest charting hit by a woman ever - clocking in at over 70 weeks. Even Dua’s clothes and aesthetic mimic the 70s dancefloor divas of the past - albeit with a very-now 90s-ish twist. Glitter, slinky dresses, and tiny tops? Check, check, and check.

Another huge disco-sounding smash with lasting power? Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj’s Say So, which is impossible for getting out of your head once you’re hooked.

Even Miley Cyrus is getting in on the disco-twinged action. For a woman who’s known for being a pop princess with a wild side, Miley’s been able to move from country, to hip hop, to rock, to disco, in little more than a sidestep. It seems that there’s nothing that she can’t do, lyrically and vocally turning tricks and her looks. Her track, Midnight Sky is disco verging on 80s pop ballad and we’re here for it. I was born to run I don’t belong to anyone - sounds exactly like the Miley we know and love.

More recently, in just August, Calvin Harris, dancefloor filler for many many years released his follow up to 2018’s Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 titled, you guessed it, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2. This new edition leaned into our new found love of pop disco adding a little boogie flair to it - and it works. You’ll have heard these sounds saturating your ears for a while now, and they’re the goods.

Will this latest disco revival last? 

You can be that disco will be around in some form or other until we’re all just dust in the stars ourselves. If the decades have proved anything, it’s that disco keeps getting remixed, reworked, revolved, and reintroduced to whole new generations - who can’t resist the slinky beats.

While this latest iteration of soul-soaked get up grooves may have an expiry date on it, the sound itself will never escape us. You’ll be hearing new nu disco in beach clubs around the world, late-night hotspots, and big social occasions forever. Disco will never die. And whether you like it or not, you’ll probably find some flavor of disco that you just can’t resist.