“What kind of music do you listen to” is the most frustrating, overused question of the 21st Century. People ask this question as if “genre” is a neatly defined term, as if all music can quickly and easily be divided into “rap” or “rock,” “alt” or “pop.” What’s worse, we live in a day and age when artists are pressured to be “pure.” Audiences look for “real” rap, EDM, rock, and country, as if melding genres somehow makes an artist “fake.” Luckily, Zeds Dead was not discouraged. Their new album, Northern Lights, plays with the concept of genre, refusing to fall under any one label. As a result, they put out one hell of an album.

I haven’t listened to Zeds Dead since the height of my dubstep phase (when I saw them perform with Skrillex, roughly five years ago), so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I turned Northern Lights on. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. Dubstep is a fun concept, and the advent of dubstep music was exciting, but as a “genre” it’s a little disappointing. The wobbles and drops that make dubstep so satisfying become repetitive; the music ceases to be individual songs and blurs into one big mess of wubs, wobbles, and wiggles. But Norhern Lights provides something new, asking “what is dubstep?” The answer may surprise you.

“Genres” are not neatly defined categories in which we can place music. Rather, each genre is characterized by certain qualities. A genre is more like an adjective to describe a song than a noun or classification that that song belongs to. Northern Lights shows us that dubstep can be rap, alt, jazz, or anything in between. Rather than just taking my word for it, let’s look at a few songs.

1. ‘Symphony’ (Featuring Charlotte OC)

This is the first song I heard from the album, and it got me hooked right from the start. Something about that piano riff and Charlotte OC’s vocals catches me just the right way. ‘Symphony’ is basically a dubstep version of Suzanne Vega. Though the instrumentals are undeniably dubstep, the wobbles and other dubstep components don’t overpower Charlotte OCs lounge-singer-esque vocals. This is a testament to Zeds Dead’s creative power and musical talent: most dubstep DJs are so heavy on the wobblesauce that vocalists are overpowered, if not drowned out completely. Zeds Dead avoids this by implementing acoustic sounds: classic dubstep musical components played with piano riffs and orchestral strings. The more synth-heavy wobbles only come in to punctuate and emphasize the vocal aspect of the song. Don’t take my word for it, listen for yourself:

2. ‘DNA’ (Featuring Jadakiss, Styles P)

This song is a testament to the rapping ability of Jadakiss and Styles P as well as Zeds Dead’s musical skills. ‘DNA’ isn’t rap with a dubstep beat, or dubstep with rap verses. It isn’t part dubstep and part rap: rather, it is 100% dubstep, 100% rap, and 100% fire.

As mentioned above, genres aren’t as separable as people seem to think. “Rap” describes a lyrical style, whereas “dubstep” describes an instrumental style. The terms, therefore, are not mutually exclusive. That said, it is incredibly difficult to make a song that really excels at both genres. Dubstep relies on a rising and falling beat, like a musical tide. Most artists try to meld dubstep with other genres simply by adding wobbles and drops here and there, but this misses the point: dubstep, like jazz, is largely based around building up tension and anticipation, followed by a release (in the form of a drop). Great artists, like Zeds Dead, can incorporate this into the lyrical aspect of the song. Listen for yourself and let us know in the comments if you agree:

3. ‘Too Young’ (Featuring Rivers Cuomo, Pusha T)

For anyone listening to this song, wondering why it sounds so familiar, you aren’t going crazy. ‘Too Young’ features Rivers Cuomo, the musical mastermind behind Weezer. It’s hard to say just how directly involved Rivers Cuomo was in the production of this song, but it is abundantly clear that his style influenced the final version of this song. It almost sounds like Rivers Cuomo wrote a song with Pusha T rapping the verses, and then he asked Zeds Dead to put their personal touch on the whole thing. The final product is impressive, to say the least: a synth-heavy Weezer-jam with rap verses. Speaking of which, Pusha T deserves a ton of credit for his lines on this track. His second verse is particularly powerful, with lines like:

We grew up on fairy tales,
No wonder we’re dreamers,
Rejection, know very well,
They didn’t believe us,
We made ’em believers,
You thought you ain’t need us,
How you gon’ stop us now?
The youth are the leaders.

This fits perfectly with Rivers Cuomo’s chorus, which states “girl, we’re too young, don’t give up on life, / don’t, don’t stop believin’.” Together, the lyrics are more inspirational than your run-of-the-mill “feel good” jam. See for yourself.

Listen to the full album below and let us know if you FUXWITHIT in the comments!