Channel Tres Details

In early April, when Channel Tres' debut single, "Controller," was pinged into my email by his label co-head and the song's co-songwriter, Nick Sylvester of the independent label Godmode, it had the benefit of landing with zero expectations attached; no associative "sounds like," no particular publication or blog or influencer or publicist pushing connections into the brain. We ended up premiering the song.

In the four-or-so months since "Controller" and Channel's subsequent and equally polished single, "Jet Black," debuted, each thick and louche and leaning deep into the bottom end, his name has been popcorning, drawing attention from streaming services (Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music all noticed, because their livelihoods depend on recognizing "bubbling" artists), radio stations from L.A. to Ireland, publications from Pitchfork to Pigeons and Planes, a shout from bon vivrant L.A. journalist Jeff Weiss. Even Elton John got hip. ("I tripped out, I was like what the f***," Channel says of finding out The Rocket Man was listening. "I woke up and I just played 'All Of The Lights' by Kanye West and just danced in my f*****' living room.")