Skylines - Citylights

Cinthie is one of dance music’s unsung heroes. A resident DJ at Flash in Frankfurt from the age of 17, she eventually gravitated to Berlin (later becoming a resident at the city’s iconic Watergate club) and has a hand in running five record labels, including Beste Modus and 803 Crystal Grooves, and she co-runs the Berlin record shop Elevate. So why has it taken her until 2020 to drop her debut album? “I’m turning 40,” she tells Apple Music. “And thought it would be a great present to myself.” While production came later to Cinthie than DJing and operating labels, she has built a solid reputation for her propulsive productions. Initially releasing her music largely through her own 803 Crystal Grooves imprint, she began releasing on British label Aus Music in 2018, and its head Will Saul was instrumental in bringing her debut album to fruition. “I picked him up from the airport when he came to Berlin and told him I was thinking of doing an album and he said, ‘That’s a brilliant idea! Let us release it on Aus Music!’” Skylines - City Lights feels like a love letter to dance music (down to the artwork: an image of Chicago, the birthplace of house music), with Cinthie purposely evoking key influences including New York house, UK garage, and the productions of Jason Jinx, Todd Edwards, and Kevin Saunderson. But while she wears her influences on her sleeve, the album never feels trite or derivative but rather brims with joy, energy, and inventiveness and has the mark of someone who’s spent a lifetime figuring out what does and doesn’t work on the dance floor.
Skylines “I had most tracks for the album finished, but then I thought I should have something a little bit more laidback as the opening track to bring the listener into the album nicely. This is really inspired by the Black Madonna track ‘Stay.’ It has this sun-coming-up kind of vibe.”
Houze Muzik “This track’s influenced by New York house. I wanted to make something really deep and soulful, and I made it really quickly as I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do. I made it in a day, then mixed it the next. I love the vocal in it! It’s a sample I got from Splice, I think.”
Concentrate “I don’t use many samples, apart from vocal samples which I can purchase legally, as it can get really complicated trying to clear them. But I thought it would be really fun to make a disco edit. So I went on Tracklib and found this track called ‘Concentrate’ by a New Orleans band called The Gaturs. I started to cut it up and put it together, but the sample was so good, it’s like the track almost wrote itself.”
2k Garage “I’m a big, big fan of Todd Edwards! When I played this to a few people, they actually asked if it was co-produced by him, but it’s just really inspired by him. I have so many of his records and I studied his music and was like, ‘How’s he doing this? How’s he doing that? How is he cutting up these vocals?’”
Horizon “This is my favorite track on the album. The pads on it sound really bittersweet. I used a Cyclone TT-303—which is kind of a clone of a Roland TB-303—and I got really into watching tutorial videos to master it. I love to add an acid line to a track, as it just really brings it to life.”
No One Can Take You From Me “I think this track has a bit of an Italo-disco vibe about it. I found the sample, on Splice again, and originally thought maybe it was a bit too cheesy, but when I played it to a friend he said, ‘No, don’t worry, it’s just more accessible.’ This one came together really nicely.”
Bassline (feat. Gilli.jpg) “I really wanted to make a track that had an Inner City vibe, with those really hands-in-the-air rave-y chords and female vocals. It features Gilli.jpg, who recorded some amazing vocals with a friend of mine that I then sampled.”
Flashback “I was a big fan of electro and broken beats when I was younger, and I thought doing a track in this style would break up the four-to-the-floor kick drum that’s on most of the tracks. If you’re always doing the same thing, it can get a bit boring, so I wanted to show people a different side to me on this track.”
Calling (feat. Gilli.jpg) “This was inspired by an old track by Jason Jinx. He passed away last year, sadly, but has always been one of my favorite producers. He nailed it with every track. This track’s really raw, and some people might think it’s too loud or there’s something wrong with it, but it’s because I have loads of saturation on it to give it this really old-school ’90s feeling.”
Morning in Melbourne “I played a festival in Melbourne on New Year’s Eve last year and I had such a good time making new friends in the sunshine while everyone back in Germany was complaining about the shitty weather. When I got back, I really wanted to make a track which recreated this feeling of pure happiness. It’s influenced by my friend Marquis Hawkes, who puts loads of wonderful piano in his tracks. It’s a really emotional track.”
803 the Meme Queen “Last summer I got asked to be a moderator on the Facebook group ‘The Worst Techno Memes Ever.’ It’s totally my kind of humor, and for some reason the guy who runs it asked me to be a moderator. I went to my friend and he was like, ‘Why are you so happy, have you been booked to play Panorama Bar?’ and I was like, ‘No, this is way better!’ Ricardo Villalobos has a track called ‘808 The Bassqueen,’ so I thought let’s call it ‘803 the Meme Queen.’ One of my labels is called 803 Crystal, so it made sense.”