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For anyone who has ever attended a house party, images of strobing lights, Solo cups, and locking eyes with a crush across the room may be familiar. What unites them all is the music playing in the background. For the curator, the choice of playlist could make or break a party, and finding the balance between the mainstream and intimate is key. Cue in Swimming Paul, whose new single "Different Time" strikes the delicate balance between bedroom and club music—and it does so with lots of flair.

The new single has all the expected elements of a great dance track: piano key sprinkles, pulsing bass, and faint tambourine shakes. However, it is the lyrics that transform the song from the usual club-ready track to something much more intimate, much more introspective. "Looking back at the past, damn how things change / Ain′t it hard to remember the days / When we chilled after college / In an empty park, drank some beers / Then we hit the pub, then we'd hit the rave / The lights don′t change, but we did," the song begins its reminiscence.

For the person sitting alone at the party, mustering the courage to reveal their personality, or the recently broken-hearted, the lyrics, if listened to closely, provide a nostalgic tinge. What makes the music of Swimming Paul so great is that it beckons people to enjoy it in a cozy setting while letting themselves go as if in a club. It is a beautiful blend of inner and external emotions and movements at play, and each chorus and verse really lean into that.

Swimming Paul has had an ecstatic 2024 as he has released one single after the next, all through his Smiling Through The Pain record, which fits the theme of nostalgia, its hurt, and the way music mends that. Knowing very little about the French artist, Swimming Paul has let the music do all the talking, and it is speaking volumes about what the future of dance music can be—a more laid-back, less party-centric medium of song, one that focuses more on the personal experiences of each listener as well as those common lived moments that brings us all together.

Watch the "Different Time" video below: