i_o signs exclusively with Armada, drops first release on labelD5CArPwWwAAfOtc E1600609591354

i_o signs exclusively with Armada, drops first release on label

Techno progressive phenomenon Garrett Lockhart, professionally known as i_o, has joined an elite force of artists, signing with Armin van Buuren‘s independent label, Armada Music.

After spending two years catapulting his career at deadmau5’s Mau5trap, i_o launched his own label brand, 444, devised as a platform for his darker underground releases. “Dance smashes,” by contrast, will be reserved via Armada.

In commemoration of the signing, i_o has delivered his first project on the imprint, “In My Head (Part I & II). The hypnotizing two-pack features blissful ambiance with illusionary vocals and uplifting progressive synth melodies that integrate while i_o balances his signature four-to-the-floor house groove.

“‘In My Head’ reflects on depression and the lengths you go to quell the warped anxiety and polar ups and downs,” i_o explained, adding,

“I wrote this after I’d been up every night until 8:00 a.m. for what felt like months. It’d been awhile since I’d played a show, and I didn’t realize what kind of high I had been riding until touring stopped abruptly in March 2020. I really wanted to write something uplifting, but the chords got more and more melancholy and the progression got more and more tense. Finally, I was left with a topline that repeated over and over, an ironic rapture that was contrary to the heavy heartedness I was going through.”

i_o has built up a substantial 2020 rap sheet, accumulating an official remix for Armin van Buuren’s “Mr. Navigator“, a single with Lights, a collaboration with Grimes, and most recently, the Revolution EP with Ratio.

Featured image: i_o/Facebook

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