Dexter - World War III

TOM TRAGO RELAUNCHES VOYAGE DIRECT.

Voyage Direct is a record label and artist development platform dedicated to lush, synth-heavy club music. The label has been on a hiatus, but now in 2024 the imprint relaunches with a refreshed visual identity, a new roster of artists, and a reiteration of it‘s core philosophy. At the heart of the labels ethos has always been a desire to connect different generations of artists from the Netherlands and beyond. Tom Trago showcases music from those who inspired him like Awanto 3, Aardvarck, and Steve Rachmad's Sterac Electronics, alongside fresh material from debutants and up-and-coming artists alike. Voyage Direct has always delivered early breakthrough releases from Dutch artists, including Tracey, Elias Mazian, and Interstellar Funk. As more young talent joins the roster, Trago is keeping a close eye on the Amsterdam underground while also looking further afield for inspiration.
For the first release on the new look label, Tom Trago invites Dexter for the relaunch. The Klakson co-founder’s ‘In Your Eyes’ ushers in a new era for the label 14 years after delivering Voyage Direct’s debut release. The Dutch stalwart’s surprise return – almost a decade and a half on from the Not The Only One EP – marks the start of a new era as it roars back with a refreshed roster of artists; a mixture of talented newcomers, rising stars and experienced heads from the Netherlands and far beyond. Dexter, a firm fixture in the Netherlands’ electronic underground for a quarter of a century, naturally sits in the latter category.

‘In Your Eyes’ is a colorful, tactile, and glassy-eyed slab of 21st-century boogie-house fusion and is one of Dexter‘s most kaleidoscopic and accessible tracks to date. A memorable song, brilliantly delivered, underscored by lilting lead lines, intergalactic electronics, squelchy synth-bass and infectious beats. It comes backed by edited and instrumental takes as well as bonus cut - ‘World War III’, a bustling mutant electrofunk workout that offers nods aplenty to Dexter’s trademark electro sound and some of his most cherished underground anthems of the early 2000s. Vibrant, dazzling and unashamedly dancefloor-focused, Dexter’s return to Voyage Direct joins the dots between the imprint’s past, present and future, heralding a thrilling new chapter in Voyage Direct‘s ongoing story.