X & Ivy - Bust It

After years of grafting and refining their sound across three continents, X & Ivy are finally dropping their debut EP ‘What Is This Sound’, out 13 June on independent label Life and Death. The first track of the same name lands 30 May. Made up of two tracks, ‘Bust It’ and ‘What Is This Sound’, the EP channels early Chicago house, Detroit techno, and 90s UK rave, layered with breakbeats, acid lines and garage textures. It’s heavy on groove, light on polish, and made with the club in mind. The tracks came together across continents, written and produced by Xavier Di Petta and Nicholas II Iavarone, then passed back and forth until they felt right. “We try to stop before the soul gets over-polished,” they explain. Some of the EP was wrapped right before NYE 2024 and within days it was already doing the rounds: Jennifer Loveless dropped it at Miscellania, Roza Terenzi played it at Let Them Eat Cake, and DJ Tennis called it an “instant sign.” X & Ivy met in California back in 2016 and have been making music together ever since – with a sound shaped by years of DJing, traveling, and digging through different scenes. Their collaboration with Todd Edwards (Keep Me) landed support on BBC Radio 1 (Sarah Story, Danny Howard, Arielle Free) and Capital Dance, while past releases on Nervous and Big Trouble leaned into classic club energy with a modern edge. This is their first proper EP, and it lands like a clear statement of where they’re headed – drawing on the rawness of rave, the depth of house and techno, and a shared obsession with the kinds of records that stick.