Troy Junker's 'Wide Awake' Is the Soundtrack to Your Summer Bush Parties

The follow-up to Junker's 'The Highs and Lows EP,' 'Wide Awake' arrives in the nick of time

BY Exclaim! StaffPublished May 19, 2023

Arriving just in time for the season of bush parties, beach days and late, humid nights, Troy Junker's debut album Wide Awake is here to soundtrack those deep-purple summer memories. 

The follow-up to his 2022 EP The Highs and Lows, Wide Awake finds Junker teaming up with producers David Ariza and Lantz to craft a set of vibrant, dance-indebted songs that weave hip-hop weight with sleek electronics — it's party music with crowd-pleasing ambitions, the sort of songs that beg to be played well into the early hours. 

"Throughout the pandemic, I made introspective music driven solely by emotions, and once things were starting to open up, I was itching to make upbeat songs for the party and just have fun," Junker said about the record's infectious energy. "We started with the hip-hop tracks, and then I told Ariza, let's explore deeper into electronic dance songs that I can give the DJs."

The songs on Wide Awake are ripe for repurposing by DJs, suited as perfectly for clubs as they are for the bush party illustrated on the album's cover. 

"The project's cover art is inspired by a huge bush party I was at in Saskatchewan until 5 a.m. when the sun was coming up," Junker said. "I wanted to fuse that memory into the imagery of the album."

Check out Wide Awake below, and get ready to make your own memories. 



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