SAOIRSE house & techno set in The Lab LDN

SAOIRSE rolling into The Lab LDN with a set that feels like raiding a particularly well-stocked record bag from 2003, if that bag had been teleported to the present and fed a steady diet of modern production steroids. We're not here for subtlety; we're here for the rush, and this full tracklist delivers it in spades. The Lab's bare-bones setup is perfect for this, all concrete and sweat, with SAOIRSE commandeering the decks for a no-nonsense blast through house and techno's more euphoric corners. With a BPM average pushing 140, this is high-octane fuel, spanning from 132 to 162 BPM to keep us on our toes.

The key framework is anchored in 12A, but frequent modulations into 3B and 5B provide the emotional torque essential for this trance and techno blend. The energy profile—averaging 0.73 low and 0.22 mid—shows a focus on driving basslines and punchy percussion, with just enough high-end sheen to keep things bright. It’s a mix that builds relentlessly, using longer tracks like the 13-minute 'Far out' to lock in a trance-like state, with transitions that are sharp yet fluid. The opener, Sasha Roshalle's 'Exit', sets a dark, technoid tone that's quickly subverted by the inclusion of Whigfield's 'Sexy Eyes' in extended form—a cheeky, peak-time recontextualization that absolutely works.

Paul Kalkbrenner's 'Feed Your Head' provides a moment of melodic, heads-down techno, while the drop of Rank 1's 'Airwave' is the kind of trance anthem deployment that makes us forgive all the cheese in the world. AVISION's 'Big Shot' (Paco Osuna Remix) and Box Clever's 'Treat Me Right' add contemporary tech-house and soulful house flavors respectively, with Philip Bader's '61' offering a minimal, tool-like interlude. Beginning with the ominous pulse of 'Exit', the set climbs through rave nostalgia and modern pressure points, finding its peak in the soaring vocals of 'Airwave', before dissolving into the breakbeat epic 'Far out'. It's a journey designed for closing your eyes and throwing your hands up, a testament to SAOIRSE's skill in weaving genres into a cohesive, heart-pounding narrative.