If you are planning a vocal-led club record for the coming season, this new release shows the direction two influential house figures are taking. Riva Starr and Adam Port have released Whole Room Dancing, featuring Los Angeles vocalist JRM, on VOD, the sister label of Keinemusik.
Neither producer is new to the other. Port remixed Starr's Absence for Snatch! Records back in 2013, and the two had known each other for over ten years before this collaboration. The new single is loose and groove-first, with funk and soul running through it. It follows Starr's 2025 album Keep Me On The Dancefloor and a run of vocal tracks from Port, including Move and Be The One.
JRM brings a pop songwriting background. His dance credits include Martin Garrix's These Are The Times and Sam Feldt's Just To Feel Alive, and he is a credited writer on All Night from Beyoncé's Lemonade.
For producers and the artists who buy their tracks, it is another sign that top-line songwriters are moving into underground-leaning house. A strong, written vocal over a stripped-back groove is getting signed by labels that once leaned instrumental.