Color The Speakers: Brad Walsh Debuts Vibrant, Pulsating ‘Primary’ EP

The last time Brad Walsh released a record (2011's Right Now), the pop climate was very different.

"A couple of years ago I started noticing an increasing binary divide in pop music. Everything was either annoyingly plotted and hokey — with inoffensive instrumentation and singing styles being obviously put-on — or it was way-overproduced garbage that had no lyrical value (or sometimes, no real lyrics at all)," Brad explains. "There was no more in-between."

Inspired by both that lack of the "in-between" and artists who challenge and blur that divide ("I cite Grimes, Robyn, and Frankmusik as pop contemporaries I wouldn't mind being compared to," he says), the independent singer-songwriter returns this week (Nov. 5) with his Primary EP, a collection of thumping, shape-shifting, left-of-center electronic productions that seeks to shake up the staleness of pop.

"We entertain / Go against our grain," he declares on opening call-to-arms, "Battle Cry."

The set includes collaborations with several talented (and unexpected!) acts, including Luscious Jackson, Canadian singer-songwriter Emm Gryner and the prolific Juliana Hatfield, known for both her work as part of The Juliana Hatfield Three, Blake Babies, Some Girls and Minor Alps.

"My strongest songwriting influences have always been female, and I was lucky enough to be able to work on this EP with some of the artists I idolized growing up. To be able to guide a rock legend like Juliana Hatfield into the realm of dance music, to have her hear what was done and respond with marvel, was a dream come true for me."

Julianna further weighed in on their collaboration: "Brad and I have slightly different aesthetic styles and that is why it is fun to work with him; that and the fact that he is just a cool, smart, unpretentious guy. He knows how to bring things out of my music that I didn't even know were there. A few years ago he remixed some tracks of mine that I recorded with standard guitars/bass/drums and he reworked and re-imagined it all into something totally new and fresh, something I never could have envisioned. And now with "Easy" he has again created something great that I could never have done on my own. He is a magician!"

As part of the release, PopCrush is giving away a free download of the hypnotic "Live In Me," featuring Emm Gryner. Grab that above.

Primary will be followed by a Secondary EP in February 2016, with a full-length to follow.

Your DJ Boyfriend: The Hotties of EDM