DJ Shadow has dropped new single “You Played Me” the track is lifted from his forthcoming album Action Adventure, out October 27 on Mass Appeal/Liquid Amber. The artist has also shared a video directed by The Reggies (Dillon Francis, Young Gravy, Aluna, more) filmed at the National Audio Company in Missouri, a working factory that continues to manufacture cassette tapes.

The Pioneering producer/DJ/composer has also announced a select series of performances and appearances in October, including a Halloween show at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco, Fools Gold’s 15th Anniversary Residency at Public Records in Brooklyn on October 8, LEVITATION Festival and more

“You Played Me” was partly inspired by an eBay auction of 200 tapes that were recorded from a radio mix station in the Baltimore/D.C. area in the ‘80s – a distinct blend of dance music, R&B and early hip-hop. Shadow created a beat that had the crackling percussion and burbling synths of classic ‘80s R&B, like a lost René and Angela hit. “I loaded up the instrumental and looped it on my computer to play forever,” he explains. Then he started dropping the needle on records in his collection that he hadn’t processed yet—an experiment to find the vocal in the haystack. “I dropped the needle on an acapella of a really obscure R&B 12-inch from around ‘84, ‘85 and I thought, ‘That actually works.’” After a few weeks of looking for a featured guest to sing on it, he realized he already had what he needed—the acapella was correct. “It’s an example of one of my favorite aspects of the music I make, which is just 100% serendipity. There are a thousand records sitting next to me that aren’t going to work; the right record got put on at the right moment to change the course of my album. It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever made.”

DJ Shadow has been releasing music for over three decades. His landmark debut Endtroducing…..was released in 1996, is considered one of the finest albums of that decade, and continues to influence new generations of artists. In the past few years he’s reached some tremendous new heights. 2016’s The Mountain Will Fall featured “Nobody Speak” with Run The Jewels. That single has long since gone gold, has nearly 100 million streams on Spotify, and continues to seep into the public consciousness as a soundtrack to countless spots in film and on TV. He returned in 2019 with Our Pathetic Age – a double LP featuring De La Soul (performing “Rocket Fuel” together on Jimmy Kimmel Live), Nas, Run the Jewels, Pusha T, Inspectah Deck and Ghostface among others. The first disc featured all instrumental, original compositions, a foreshadowing of how Action Adventure would take shape.

DJ Shadow
Action Adventure
Mass Appeal/Liquid Amber
Tracklisting

Ozone Scraper
All My
Time and Space
Craig, Ingels, & Wrightson
Witches Vs. Warlocks
A Narrow Escape
You Played Me
Free For All
The Prophecy
Friend Or Foe
Fleeting Youth (An Audible Life)
Reflecting Pool
Forever Changed
She’s Evolving

DJ Shadow 2023 Tour Dates

October 6 – Headlining Submersion Festival – Hammonton, NJ
October 8 – Fool’s Gold 15th Anniversary Residency w/DJ Shadow, A-Trak, Remy Banks, Eden – Public Records – Brooklyn, NY
October 21 – Mission Ballroom – Denver, CO w/ Thievery Corporation
October 22 – Radius – Chicago, IL w/ Thievery Corporation
October 29 – LEVITATION Festival – Austin, TX
October 31 – 1015 Folsom – San Francisco, CA

Pre-order Action Adventure by DJ Shadow HERE