Loco Dice – Purple Jam [Virgin]

Few artists can push the fringes of a scene quite like Loco Dice. With Purple Jam his fourth studio album, out today via Virgin Records – the Düsseldorf icon delivers a bold, genre-melding musical statement. It’s a record soaked in both swag and sound design, pulling influence from hip-hop’s grit, house music’s flow, and techno’s punch, all glazed with Loco Dice’s signature sense of chunky rhythms, raw relentless groove and resistance to boundaries.

Following his seismic appearance at Coachella’s Quasar Stage and EDC Las Vegas Purple Jam arrives as a 12-track testament to decades spent working at the forefront of club culture. Drawing in friends and stellar collaborators alike, the project doesn’t follow a trend, it furrows its own path.

The journey begins with a moody and atmospheric intro that sets the tone like a needle drop in a smoky back room. Fragmented samples, ghostly rhythms, and sonic innovation build into something harmoniously tense and tantalizing. That crackling energy spills into ‘Heavy Heart’, an anthem that knows no borders with Skrillex and Nigerian singer-songwriter Fireboy DML. Techno muscle and vocal emotion collide, delivering fans an experience that is tender yet raw – a heartfelt sound for the 2AM crowd.

The fire burns even hotter with ‘Purple Kawasaki’ – techy, bouncy, and constructed with basslines that refuse to sit still. The groove remains tight, as Italian rap star Guè steps into the limelight with ‘G Class’, adding a polished bravado over Loco Dice’s trusted low-end mechanics.

‘One Round Baby’ dials the energy inward, submerging the listener in a barrage of bleeps, textures, and melodies. Its hypnotic and immersive nature flows into ‘High Roller’, a masterclass in less-is-more minimalism. Created with longtime friend Marco Carola, the track delivers a self-assured, stripped-back rhythm that paints a vivid picture of modern house music in its purest form.

This refined tension builds into ‘Just Do It’, with Moxie Knox delivering a powerful, soul-infused vocal performance. The track evolves from a kinetic drum workout into a full-throttle dancefloor moment, elevated by crisp, dialed-in synths that hit right on cue.

‘Blowin’ Up’ lights the fuse on Purple Jam’s B-side, exploding with tight percussion and percolating synths that never sit still. ‘Juice’ squeezes house precision and hip-hop charisma into a club-ready cocktail, featuring heavyweight contributions from The Martinez Brothers and rapper Trinidad James. Together, the track culminates into a zesty and layered swerve that oozes with bounce, swagger, and floor-filling flair.

Loco Dice taps further into his hip-hop roots with ‘Ice Cold Dealer’ collaborating with German rap star Haftbefehl for a frozen beat with a molten-red core. ‘Megalodon’ drags the party into deeper waters, where a wave of sub-bass crashes through layers of nuanced drums.

The collaboration with Carl Cox on ‘Road Runner’ marks a particularly meaningful chapter in Purple Jam,– a true full-circle moment for Loco Dice, as it was Cox who pinpointed him as one to watch at his very first Circoloco performance in 2002. Now, more than two decades later, the stalwart producers reunite on a track fueled by restrained aggression and a breathing bassline—laying the a blueprint for future DJ weapons with the same chugging intensity.

Loco Dice caps off Purple Jam with ‘Designer Kidz’, a futuristic finale made in collaboration with 1 Up Crew. It’s a last dab of the album’s sonic spread, flipping samples and ideas into something equal parts familiar and freshly preserved.

As his fourth full-length offering, Purple Jam is more than a studio album—it’s a map of Loco Dice’s musical DNA: cross-genre, cross-generational, and cross-cultural. Shaped by decades behind the decks and deep connections to the scenes he’s lived through, it’s a collection that feels rooted in history while wired for tomorrow.