AFK releases jaw-dropping single 'Need Your Love'

Luckily for AFK and his need for love, I love it.

Legendary dubstep producer AFK is back again with another scorching single, his first original track of the year, Need Your Love.

Many of you know AFK’s music from the early days of dubstep and The Dub Rebellion. There’s also a huge amount of people that entirely know his work because of his legendary b2b with Svdden Death at EDC Las Vegas. While he and many of the producers from dubstep’s “golden era” are brought up less now than in 2011-2016, tracks like this one will have his music played on every main stage of festivals in 2024.

This record is relatively straight forward and instantly has the feel of a festival dubstep anthem from the second you hit play (it’s the rave stabs). The intro does an exceptional job of setting the atmosphere with inch perfect details like using a ride cymbal instead of a hi-hat, or making the rave stabs slightly more staccato at the end of the loop used in the intro.

While it is certainly a festival banger, there’s no huge “EDM buildup” and the tension is built really well with pitched up vocals, ride cymbals, vinyl back spins and a rave stab loop. All of that is to say, there is a creative way to make an intro with lots of elements that have been heard time and time again and AFK did just that.

The drops are equally as good. There’s sound design that spans through all of the years of dubstep, seamlessly stitched together at 150 bpm. There’s the classic “brostep” call and response drop pattern in both drops and growls that would make Mr. Sonny Moore blush. Those are just some of the smaller details on his sonic canvas, as most of the influence of the drop is closer to modern tearout than Skrillex in 2011. The drums are massive, but well balanced in the mix. The flow is immaculate for both drops and does not ever begin to feel tiresome, despite both drops being relatively similar.

It was clear that AFK wanted to put a modern spin on his iconic sound, and he delivered. It’s really great to see many of the musicians of this scene’s formative years thriving in 2024 so far. Dubstep is alive and well, this track serves as evidence of that.