‘The Day We Met’ is a Melodic Slice of Ben Aboulafia’s Tel Aviv Nightlife

Released just in time for June, the new album by DJ and Producer Ben Aboulafia is meant for summer nights in clubs where chill, shadowed rooms are decorated with neon lights and pulsing melodies. This isn’t the kind of bombastic, frantic club music that will still be shaking in your bones a week later; Aboulafia’s music is much more deliberate, much deeper, much chiller than that, but it’ll work its way into your mind and change your mood, leaving a lingering chill that’ll keep you feeling light for hours.

The Energy of Techno with the Depth of Melody: The Sound of Aboulafia

The titular track of the album, “The Day We Met,” sets its rhythm with a relaxed but wide-awake bass line that’s easy and pleasant to move to, then decorates it with multi-layered techno sounds that seem simple at first, but become more complicated the closer you listen. There’s a satisfying, echoing bounce in the background, and on occasion a surprisingly powerful blare of techno power that lifts the softer elements instead of overpowering them.

This kind of careful musical alchemy requires more than talent and taste. It takes experience, and Aboulafia has it. He’s been in the club scene a long time, keeping heads bobbing and watching how symphonic waves can move a crowd in real-time. Listen long enough and you can hear the subtle, deliberate decisions of a master DJ who wants to bring the crowd into his vibe. For years, Tel Aviv clubs have been chilling and swaying according to Aboulaifa’s careful melodies, and now his Spotify listeners will, too.

Single “Best DJ In The World” is Doing Numbers

For a solo Producer putting his music out independently on Spotify, seeing tens of thousands of listens piling up on a single track can be a lot. “Best DJ In The World” is the perfect example of how Aboulafia can infuse so much energy into such a carefully crafted, melodic track. Its technical elements are, as is characteristic of Aboulafia’s style, simple on the surface, making for an airy, almost ambient track. But somehow, it carries the energy of a pulsating club, speeding cars, flashing lights and a hundred-strong party of nightclubbers jumping as one.

The transformative power of the track is part of its inspiration. Aboulafia traces the track’s inspiration back to the very energy that this kind of music is capable of, from watching how the right track can transform the environment of a lounge and create connections between nightlifers, and between the DJ and his audience.

What a DJ Can Become

Aboulafia is looking forward to taking his career in new directions. He’s been playing for audiences across Tel Aviv, and now he’s going global thanks to Spotify and social media, but he wants to find new audiences performing at music festivals. He also wants to expand his reach. Could the future see him start his own record label? Aboulafia thinks it’s possible. Find him on Spotify, Instagram, or YouTube, and see why his music resonates the way it does.