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Deadmau5 Drops 'Quezacotl,' His First Solo Track In Two Years

The Canadian electronic music legend debuted the seven-minute opus during his ‘retro5pective: 25 years of deadmau5’ shows in New York and L.A. earlier this year, and has now released it in full as the lead single from his upcoming some ep, out July 19.

deadmau5 performing at the Hollywood Bowl April 27, 2024

deadmau5 performing at the Hollywood Bowl April 27, 2024

Leah Sems

Canadian dance-floor hitmaker deadmau5 has dropped his first solo track in two years.

The acclaimed producer has been busy celebrating his 25-year career of late, with sold-out retrospective shows in New York and L.A this spring. In June, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Week Hall of Fame, accompanied by a fireside chat with Billboard Canada's Richard Trapunski that saw him reflecting on his trajectory.


Now, he's looking ahead to the future, with the seven-minute opus "Quezacotl" coming as the lead single off a new EP. The mesmerizing track begins with bright, piercing synths that gather in intensity before cutting away to a sharp drop, making way for hypnotic pulsing bass and sharp kick drum that guide the song forward.

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deadmau5 debuted the track live at his retrospective shows and has been performing it at summer dates, prepping fans for the official release. He has a series of upcoming dates this month, taking him from Surrey, B.C., to India and Spain, leading up to the July 19 release of the three-track some ep, arriving on his label mau5trap.

In his conversation at Canadian Music Week, the musician described the relationship between his work in the studio and his live set, emphasizing a desire to create continuity between them. "What takes me all day in the studio for 15 minutes on stage, I want to make it cohesive enough for someone to make that connection and see what [I'm] trying to do," he explained.

"Quezacotl" is the first solo deadmau5 release since 2022's "XYZ," and emphasizes that even as the artist is reflecting on an already-prolific career, there's still plenty more in store.

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Nessa Barrett at Toronto's History on Feb. 13, 2025
Yasseen Ashri

Nessa Barrett at Toronto's History on Feb. 13, 2025

Concerts

Nessa Barrett Reveals Her Favourite Canadian Artist

The viral alt-pop rising star met Billboard Canada backstage at her Toronto concert at History to talk about what she does when she comes to Canada, as well as her favourite slang terms and some surprising things we didn't know about her.

Nessa Barrett came to Toronto to play a packed History last night (Feb. 13), and she had the whole venue screaming her name.

The rising alt-pop artist has gone viral many times over on TikTok and other social media (she has over 6 million Instagram followers and over 2 billion global streams, still early in her career), and has had major co-signs from Lana Del Rey, who has brought her on stage and posted her song "Love Looks Pretty On You" on Instagram.

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