TuneLab
CHRIS LAKE in The Lab #SmirnoffHouse
at EDC Orlando
Of course we're here. Chris Lake at an EDC Orlando afterparty, presumably while someone is trying to charge their phone in a bush. The man has a PhD in making people move without asking permission, and this Smirnoff House Lab session is a clinic in why he dominates festival circuits. The vibe is that of a sterile cube in the Florida heat transformed into a pressure cooker of precisely engineered joy, all neon lights and sweating concrete.
Technically, this is a masterclass in tech-house efficiency, locked into a rock-solid 125 BPM and orbiting the harmonic center of 12A for most of its runtime. The energy profile is textbook: a 72% dominance in the low-end provides that relentless, spine-massaging groove, with mid-range percussion (19%) and careful high-end sparkle (9%) ensuring clarity without fatigue. Lake's mixing is surgical and functional, building tension through subtle key modulations into 7A and 8B that feel evolutionary, not revolutionary. The journey is a linear ascent, maintaining a deep, propulsive pocket before unleashing peak-time weapons with impeccable timing.
For crate diggers, the opener 'Henry Effe - Experiment 001 (Larix Remix)' sets a hypnotic, minimal tone, while the inclusion of 'Will Clarke & DJ Funk - Booty Percolatin'' is a cheeky, bass-heavy nod to classic Chicago house. Ohmme's 'Excess' offers a darker, driving interlude, and yes, 'FISHER - Losing It' appears—a track so ubiquitous it's a meme, but dropped here with such narrative purpose it still lands. The peak is undoubtedly his own 'Chris Lake & Dances - Operator (Ring Ring)', a synth-stab anthem that defines the genre. The journey wraps with 'Bass Mode - Losing Control', a fittingly titled, driving comedown that leaves you wanting more, exactly as planned.