Melodic techno

A style of techno that rose to prominence in the 2010s, pairing techno’s driving four-on-the-floor rhythms and hypnotic structure with emotional, cinematic melodies, arpeggios and atmospheric pads. It typically runs at around 120–126 BPM and builds slowly through long, evolving tracks with dramatic breakdowns, often with a dark, introspective or epic mood. Tracks frequently blur into progressive house. Labels and artists such as Innervisions (Dixon, Âme), Stephan Bodzin, Kölsch and especially Tale Of Us’s Afterlife label, founded in 2016, shaped the sound, with Afterlife’s large-scale audiovisual shows helping turn it into a global festival phenomenon. Later artists such as Anyma brought it to mainstream audiences.