Single Review: Calvin Harris x Kasabian – Release The Pressure
RELEASE THE PRESSURE
Whenever indie and dance worlds collide, it usually sparks something special and that’s exactly the territory Calvin Harris and Kasabian step into with ‘Release The Pressure‘.
Think The Chemical Brothers teaming up with Noel Gallagher, Tim Burgess and Bloc Party or UNKLE bringing in the likes of Ian Brown and Richard Ashcroft, more recently you’ve had CamelPhat linking up with Jake Bugg and Foals. It’s a crossover that rarely misses and this latest link-up between one of the UK’s biggest DJs and one of its most explosive bands feels right at home in that lineage.
On paper, Calvin Harris and Kasabian makes perfect sense, both thrive on massive hooks, festival-sized beats and that feeling of pure release when a crowd locks into the same rhythm. ‘Release The Pressure‘ wastes no time getting there, built around a pounding electronic groove that’s clearly aimed at packed fields, late-night tents and sweat-soaked dance floors.
Harris handles the production with his usual polished touch, delivering a tight, pulsing beat and bright synth lines that feel tailor-made for summer. It’s slick, direct and all about movement. The guitars are more of a texture than a driving force, but that’s never really been a problem for Kasabian, who’ve always had one foot in the rave anyway.
Serge Pizzorno’s vocal comes in like a chant you can imagine echoing around a festival at sunset. It’s simple, punchy and built for crowd participation rather than deep-dive lyric sheets. The hook does exactly what it needs to do, sticks in your head keeping the energy high and honestly, we’d be surprised if this isn’t blasting out of fields and car stereos as one of the anthems of the summer.
It definitely leans more toward Harris’ dance-floor world rather than Kasabian’s indie-rock chaos but that’s part of the charm. Instead of a halfway compromise, it feels like Kasabian have just stepped into the club and let the beat take over and when it hits its stride, it’s easy to picture this one going off in both DJ sets and headline slots.
‘Release The Pressure‘ isn’t trying to reinvent either artist but it doesn’t need to, it’s a big, bold crossover track that does exactly what it says on the tin, release the pressure and get people moving.
