Earlier this week, Carnage tweeted about his forthcoming house track, “KTM,” out today on Ultra Records, claiming it was going to “change house music forever.” Possessing the same energy as KSHMR calling his album “maybe even one of the best electronic albums of all time,” EDM Twitter’s immediate response was skepticism.
every label wanted to sign it… but no one knew it was me…. im not gonna put peoples name out there… BUT EVERY… fucking label… wanted this song…. this song is about to change house music forever…..
— CARNAGE (@djcarnage) February 21, 2021
Carnage has been known to release a variety of music other than the festival trap that he initially became known for, digging into psytrance, hardstyle, and more, so pivoting to house wasn’t as much of a shock as one might expect. However, it was the sheer bravado and ego in his tweet that likely rubbed people the wrong way.
Two days ago, I received the promo for the song in my inbox, and immediately went, “Oh, it’s THIS song.” Turns out, I’d heard it back in May 2019 when a friend of mine showed it to me and just completely forgotten about it. When I heard it again, it brought back all the memories of heavily criticizing the track almost two years ago, but I wanted to go in with a fresh mind — maybe it had been changed or updated, or maybe my tastes had changed.
They hadn’t.
“KTM” is a very basic house song that ad nauseam repeats “Ketamine, cocaine, amphetamines” and is expected to be “the next Losing It” according to at least one person on Twitter. The beat is standard, the synths are standard, the lyrics are just controversial enough to avoid the “promoting drug culture” critique while still repetitively referencing them.
In a quote provided by his publicist, Carnage says, “There is no question that ‘KTM’ is the one track that defines exactly who I am as an artist in this exact moment in time. This song came together after years of self discovery through music and being open minded to new ways of life and inspirations. This is the beginning of the new me.”
The song launches his new house project, Gordo, so named after one of the nicknames he and has fans have adopted for him, Papi Gordo.
So, to answer the question, will Carnage’s new song “change house music forever”? No, absolutely not. To be clear, it’s not a terrible song but it is by no means the revelation that he claimed it would be. If nothing else, Carnage is pretty damn good at marketing his own music, and at the very least, he got everyone talking about it.
Photo (c) Bryan Perez
