Chemistry

Album ∙ Dance ∙ 2025

Chris Lake

For Chris Lake, releasing his debut album two decades into his career was worth the wait. “I didn’t really know how to put together an album’s worth of material in an interesting way,” he tells Apple Music. “But that changed in the last few years. I developed more as a musician, and I had the vision for it.” Though the idea of an album once felt distant, the UK-born, LA-based producer had already made his mark through a long run of club and chart successes, from his 2006 breakthrough “Changes” to later hits like “Turn off the Lights,” “Deceiver” (with Green Velvet), and “In the Yuma.” But after wrapping a tour in late 2022, he stepped back to reset. Digging through old demos, he uncovered a melodic side of his sound that had since taken a backseat in his recent work. “I’d kept refining my music to where it became more and more simple and effective,” he says. “I wanted to put more musicality into what I was doing.”

Two years later, Chemistry is the realization of Lake’s vision. Packed with bright melodies, driving percussion, and magnetic vocal hooks, its 15 tracks show off his expanded range and depth, moving through different textures and moods: house woozy with infatuation (“In My Head”), melancholic UK garage (“Broken Hearts”), warm disco-funk (“Ease My Mind”)—and yes, even a peak-time banger (“Psycho”).

But the album, at its core, is also about collaboration. Nearly every track features a vocalist or co-producer, reflecting Lake’s desire to learn from the people around him. “I just gravitated toward people that I like and whose music inspires me,” he says. That instinct led to sessions with Bonobo, Amber Mark, Riovaz, longtime collaborator (and wife) Aatig, and more. Most of the songs came together in his home studio, with Lake adapting his process to each artist. “There are so many different ways that songs can come together,” he adds. “I really enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to get the best out of the person I’m working with.” Read on as Lake takes us through Chemistry, track by track.

“On & On” (feat. Yael Watchman)
“I’m obsessed with Yael’s voice. I played a completely different version of this song two years ago at the Hollywood Boulevard show with FISHER, and while I loved that version, it never quite worked the way I wanted. So many people want me to release it, but that’s not the version on the album. I’m going to piss a lot of people off, so I decided, ‘Fuck it, let’s get it out of the way and make it the first track.’”

“Memories” (feat. Nathan Nicholson)
“This was the last track I finished for the album, but one of the first I sketched out. It’s probably one of the most deceptively clubby records on the project. I’ve played it out a couple times, and it really hits. It was great working with Nathan again—he’s the voice on ‘Summertime Blues,’ the track I released with Sammy Virji.”

“Savana”
“This one came together pretty quickly. I had a distinct vision, and by the time we got to this later stage in the project, I’d refined the approach of making musical songs with the kind of beats I was into. People seem to really like it, so I’m happy.”

“Reach for You” (feat. MPH)
“This was a collaboration with MPH and Kelly Lee Owens. This was slightly Frankensteined because it was made in two parts. I wrote a version with Kelly over a completely different backing. I loved her voice, but I felt like I hadn’t done as good a job on the production. Then Myles [MPH] came over, and we started working on a new beat. I brought the vocal over and everything clicked. I showed Kelly and asked if I could continue with it. She said, ‘Go for it.’”

“In My Head” (feat. Amber Mark)
“This was originally an R&B song—hers. I didn’t write it. I was just captivated by her voice. I heard her demo and was like, ‘I have to have that vocal. Give it to me.’ I put the beat together, and it ended up being quite a big song in my sets. It’s so catchy, really simple.”

“Favourite One” (feat. Black Lotus)
“I just love how quirky this song is. It was a hell of a vibe working on this with Black Lotus, who’s a new artist. I had to recruit Alexis [Roberts] for the vocals. She recorded them in her spare bedroom in Atlanta on what she described as a very crappy mic and setup. But when you’ve got a voice like hers, she could honestly record using a cup and a piece of string, and it would sound great.”

“Watch the Sunrise” (feat. Aatig)
“That’s my wife, so it’s an in-house tune. We’ve been married for a long time, and I’ve worked with her for years, so it felt quite natural. I love the vibe. She always sounds fantastic. This is the only one she’s officially featured on, but she’s also singing on ‘Broken Hearts’ and ‘Psycho.’”

“Ease My Mind” (feat. Abel Balder)
“So much work went into this one. Abel’s a fantastic artist, and I think this was a great example of working really hard to meet in the middle in an interesting way. It’s not a heavy club track—it’s a vibe. We performed it live in this room for a couple of days, refining it until we committed to recording it. I think the middle-eight of that song, with the guitar solo and keys, might be my favorite micro-section of the whole album.”

“Broken Hearts”
"Aatig and I initially wrote this as an interlude, but it ended up becoming a little bit more. I got this delay unit, and when I pipe my electric piano through it, it creates all these really weird, spaced-out textures. The sound at the very beginning of this song was created with that delay pedal. I called her to the studio, played the notes, and she was like, ‘Turn the mic on!’ She just laid it all down. MPH did additional production and helped me with the drums.”

“Round After Round” (feat. Riovaz)
“I was introduced to Riovaz through my label. I had him over, and the whole thing came together in two hours, start to finish. We were really cooking on this song. I don’t think he normally sounds the way he does on here, so it was great fun. I’d never worked with an artist like him before: a bit emo—he sings like he’s got tortured emotions, you know what I mean? I love it. I really felt the vocal and the vibe, and what you hear is pretty much what the demo was like.”

“Chemistry” (feat. Vera Blue)
“Similar story to ‘Broken Hearts.’ I sat down with Vera and her writing partner Nat, started playing some notes on the keyboard, and she just poured this whole idea out. Then I had the idea to make her vocal the lead. I chopped it up, and the song fell into place. It was a pleasure working with someone that’s got vocals as strong as hers. She’s unbelievable.”

“Psycho”
“The simplest one on the album. It’s like the automatic reflex of Chris Lake: If you told me to shut my eyes and make a beat, this is the kind of thing I’d make. An absolute ripper. There aren’t any chords—it’s actually kind of the betrayal of everything I described in my manifesto for the album, but I felt like it had a place. It’s that juxtaposition, that walloper that reminds you that this is a dance producer’s album.”

“Jungle” (feat. Black Lotus)
“It’s all about the vocals. Black Lotus wrote the original, and I immediately had a vision. I completely flipped the concept and put together that wild lead at the drop. I’m really proud of this one. I don’t know where those ideas and chords came from, but I love it. It’s just odd.”

“Satisfy Me”
“I worked on this one for fucking ages, but I’m so glad I persevered. It’s probably the most Frankenstein song on the album. The vocal is actually two people from two different songs, written in completely separate sessions. The first demo was this slow, trip-hop kind of song sent to me by Tim Randolph and Christian Alexander. I pitched and sped it up, and there was this one vocal bit—‘Do you satisfy me?’—that was so magical, but I couldn’t make it into a full concept. Later, I was in a session with Leven Kali, a great friend who I’ve worked with a lot, and he played me a demo he’d written called ‘Satisfied.’ I was like, ‘That’s really cool, and also quite close to what I’ve been doing.’ I asked if I could completely bastardize it and he was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ So, I chopped up his vocal, pitched it up, and combined it with Christian’s. I swear, when I played them together, they sounded like the same singer—they fit perfectly, lyrically and timing-wise. I’ve never had a situation like that before. Complete coincidence.”

“Falling” (feat. Bonobo & Alexis Roberts)
“This is another one I did loads of work on. I wrote the verses with HAYLA, who’s become quite big over the last few years doing songs with deadmau5 and Kaskade and John Summit. I went through nearly 10 versions of this track but never nailed the production. Then I ended up in the studio with Bonobo. I hadn’t played it for anyone yet because it was really personal, but I believed he’d get the vision. I played it for him, and he said, ‘I’ve got an idea’ and went from there. We brought Alexis in to sing the vocal and everything fell into place. It was an absolute joy to work with one of my musical heroes.”

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