Following the nostalgic waves and subtle ivory strokes of Red Carpet’s “All Right”, the mix contorts the slowed-down synth tones with the opening crescendo from live staple Pendulum’s “The Island” (Steve Angello, AN21, Max Vangeli remix). “Antidote”, which has already been floating around for nearly a year, mixes a spiraling synth wave with a wobbling bass line and quick-hitting hip hop vocal that leaves listeners stuck in an avalanche of sound, unaware which direction is up and which leads to eventual doom. That house bounce may form the backbone of the continuous mix, but multiple injections of Knife Party provide Until Now with a rage that crowds relish, which was absent from SHM’s debut LP. Swedish House Mafia’s “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall”, Florence + The Machine’s “You Got The Love” (Mark Knight Remix)), they showcase the uplifting female vocals of “Beating of My Heart” (Matisse & Sadko Remix), one of the next club monsters courtesy of the UK’s M-30x. Before the album takes on more commercial remixes (The Temper Trap ‘s “Sweet Disposition”, Coldplay vs. Rising star Thomas Gold’s heavy drum sounds are the focal point nearly halfway through the release, first with a caffeinated re-edit of Miike Snow’s “The Wave” and then with a crucial tie-in of his minimal “Singe2Me”. It is unlikely that many of the band’s fans would go crate-digging for Nari & Milani’s ”Atom”, but the track’s staccato bass line is a perfect segue into club-favorite “Leave The World Behind”, thus creating a giant fluorescent “CHECK IT OUT” sign pointing towards the former track. The 22-track mix behind Until Now could easily be filled with SHM originals, but the outfit uses their own super-stardom to propel their growing family of electro-misfits. As the album cover for Until Now suggests, the trio of Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso is no longer merely human, but a collective strand of energy that has the power to lift entire festivals or massive European stadiums toward unbridled euphoria.
There is a long heritage of influential pairings (Frankie Knuckles and Derrick May, Sasha and John Digweed, Erol Alkan and Boys Noize, Aphex Twin and µ-ziq, the trio behind Magnetic Man), but no electronic supergroup has ever pushed their genre to the heights at which the Swedish House Mafia is currently performing progressive house music. The original dub producers altered the work of reggae musicians with their sound systems, house DJs reworked disco tracks to create a more minimal vibe, Detroit’s techno pioneers took to the tables to further deconstruct the sound, and much-lauded tag-team sets allowed for DJs and producers to hone their craft and expand individual track selections. Electronic dance culture was established around the idea of artistic collaborations.
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