Dam Swindle drop the next instalment of the revered DJ-Kicks compilation for !K7 on November 20, with the Amsterdam-based duo becoming the first Dutch contributors to the long-running series. Fresh from celebrating the 100th release on their evergreen Heist Recordings label and continuing to shape Amsterdam’s club culture through RadioRadio, the pair bring together music from Osunlade, Eli Escobar and musclecars alongside five exclusive productions of their own. Lead single ‘I Want You’ featuring Allysha Joy lands October 7, followed by ‘Keep On’ on October 28.
Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets’ contribution to the acclaimed mix series distils everything that has defined Dam Swindle over the past 15 years: house music with heart and soul. Across 74 minutes, forgotten gems and new Dam Swindle productions form a mix that is as much a statement of their taste as it is a snapshot of where they are now.
Recorded in their studio beneath Amsterdam’s Volkshotel, the five new Dam Swindle productions were selected from a 30-strong stack of demos, each made with a particular part of the sequence in mind. “It was close to writing a whole album,” says Smeets.
The new material sits alongside a deliberate curation of forgotten and overlooked gems. Rather than reaching for the obvious, the duo went digging for tracks with the ability to connect instantly on the dance floor. Classic US house favourites rub shoulders with local talents including Makèz, D Stone and Nachtbraker, who composed the bespoke intro and outro, threaded with fragments from Dam Swindle interviews.
“We wanted tracks that were special to us, but which nobody knew,” says Smeets. “Those $5 bargains in the bin at your local record store.”
The tracklist took shape in the space between their two instincts. Smeets wanted to explore the more eclectic territory of Henrik Schwarz’s celebrated 2006 DJ-Kicks, while Dales argued for something more firmly rooted in the club. They met somewhere in the middle, each pulling from deep within their collections until the tracklist felt like theirs.
“There were definitely moments where we were kind of bartering. But in the end we always arrive at a point where we’re both completely at peace,” says Dales.
That chemistry is most apparent in the transitions. Their edit of Eli Escobar’s ‘Seein You’ slips into Mr. De’s ‘All For Granted’ with such precision that the join almost disappears – an inclusion Smeets is particularly proud of given how protective the Detroit artist is about his music.
For Lars, it’s hard to beat Soundstream’s ‘Mercury Mood,’ which arrives ahead of the outro and shifts the atmosphere into something darker and more introspective: subtle acid tones, heavy claps and a change in temperature. Music from Harvey Sutherland, S.A.M. and musclecars has carried the mix there almost imperceptibly, the tempo shifting by degrees until the final destination feels inevitable.
Fifteen years into their story, Dam Swindle have developed a deep understanding of what makes a dance floor move. DJ-Kicks brings that instinct into focus: the music that shaped them, the records that still move them and the sounds carrying them forward.
“When people listen to the mix, they’ll understand where we come from, what we do and where we’re heading,” says Dales. “It’s a full circle moment for us, in that sense.”
Dam Swindle ‘DJ-Kicks’
Tracklist:
1. Nachtbraker, Dam Swindle – Intro
2. Comfy Bella – Konkahs
3. Frank Booker – The Sun
4. Marcel Vogel feat. Sensational – If You Like
5. Eli Escobar – Seein You (Dam Swindle Edit)
6. Mr. De’ – All For Granted
7. Makèz, Javonntte – There’s No Way
8. Dam Swindle – Don’t Sweat
9. Osunlade – Jus Anuda Groove
10. Dam Swindle – My My My
11. Native Rhythms – Ya-Hey (Jazz N Groove Deep Mix) [Dam Swindle Edit]
12. Dam Swindle feat. Allysha Joy – I Want You
13. Kimara Lovelace – When Can Our Love Begin (The Shelter Dub) [Dam Swindle Edit]
14. musclecars – Tonight NV South Jersey Dub
15. Dam Swindle – Keep On
16. Storm Mollison – Gotta Go
17. Dam Swindle – Filter Baby
18. Chris Simmonds – I Changed My Mind
19. D Stone – Slow Soil
20. Harvey Sutherland – Hummingbird
21. S.A.M. – Hit You With My Phone
22. Soundstream – Mercury Mood
23. Nachtbraker, Dam Swindle – Outro
When is Dam Swindle’s ‘DJ-Kicks’ album released??
‘DJ-Kicks’ compilation drops via !K7 on 20th November 2026, with ‘I Want You’ and ‘Keep On’ landing October 7 and October 28, respectively, and is available to pre-order now
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