Album Review: Skrillex Expands His Global Vision on SOMA
At this point, it’s become one of dance music’s few guarantees: just when you think you’ve figured out where Skrillex is headed next, he decides to reinvent himself all over again.
With SOMA, Sonny Moore continues the evolution he’s been building toward over the last several years. While many fans still associate Skrillex with the explosive dubstep records that changed electronic music forever, this project feels far more interested in exploring the sounds connecting dance floors across the globe right now.
What stood out to me immediately is how raw this album feels. There are moments that pull from Latin influences, moments that feel inspired by European club culture, moments rooted in UK bass music, and plenty of tracks that blur all of those worlds together. Rather than sticking to one genre, SOMA feels like a reflection of how people actually experience dance music in 2026: playlists, festivals, and clubs where sounds from every corner of the world collide.
The opening title track, “Soma” with Nitepunk, is easily one of my personal favorites on the entire album. From the very first listen, it grabbed me in a way only a few tracks have this year. It’s giving tribal percussion, old-school dubstep energy, and the kind of gritty bass design that reminds me why I fell in love with Skrillex’s music in the first place. There’s something primal about it. The drums feel massive, the tension never lets up, and while it nods to the early days of bass music, it never feels stuck in the past. Instead, it sounds like Skrillex is taking those foundations and rebuilding them for an entirely new generation.
That balance between nostalgia and innovation is really what makes SOMA so compelling.
Skrillex continues to showcase his fascination with Latin sounds and artists throughout the album, and “Noche Without You” featuring Feid is one of its most infectious moments. The track effortlessly blends Feid’s vocals with a high-energy groove that feels tailor-made for summer nights. There’s an emotional pull beneath the danceable production, giving the song a sense of longing while still feeling undeniably fun. It’s another example of Skrillex’s ability to step into different musical worlds and create something that feels authentic rather than forced. Another standout collaboration comes alongside ISOxo, one of the most exciting names in the new generation of dance music. The track captures the explosive energy both artists are known for, blending ISOxo’s chaotic, genre-bending sound design with Skrillex’s unmatched ability to make even the heaviest moments feel intentional and polished. It’s a meeting of two eras of electronic music: a producer who helped define modern bass music and an artist actively pushing it into the future. The result is one of the album’s most exhilarating moments and a reminder that Skrillex remains just as influential as he is innovative.
SOMA also delivers a pair of collaborations with Chris Lake, bringing together two of the greatest electronic music producers of all time. Hearing Skrillex and Chris Lake trade ideas across these records feels like a masterclass in dance music production, with each track balancing technical precision and raw energy. Rather than trying to outshine one another, the two legends push each other creatively, resulting in some of the album’s most exciting and club-ready moments. What I appreciate is that these influences never feel performative or trend-driven. They feel genuinely embedded in the creative process. The grooves are infectious, the percussion feels alive, and there’s a level of rhythm throughout the project that makes it impossible to sit still while listening. At the same time, longtime fans will still find plenty of the experimentation they’ve come to expect from him. Some tracks feel built for warehouse dance floors. Others lean into industrial textures and distorted sound design. Some moments feel chaotic and unpredictable, followed by sections that lock into hypnotic grooves for minutes at a time.
And honestly, that’s what I love most about Skrillex as an artist.
He’s never been interested in staying comfortable.
While so much of the electronic music landscape is driven by formulas, trends, and whatever happens to be performing well on social media, Skrillex continues to follow curiosity above everything else. SOMA doesn’t feel like an album designed around viral moments or festival headline slots. It feels like an artist exploring whatever inspires him and trusting listeners to come along for the ride. More than fifteen years after helping reshape electronic music, Skrillex remains one of the few artists capable of making an album feel genuinely surprising. Whether he’s pulling inspiration from Latin club culture, underground European dance floors, bass music’s roots, or somewhere entirely new, SOMA proves he’s still operating several steps ahead of the curve.
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