The Face Mix 003: Sentimental Rave
Absorb an hour of pure intensity from the Paris artist.
There’s a sense of tough love to Sentimental Rave’s style, and her artist name is a fairly reliable advert for her DJ sets. Recognising the cathartic potential of intense club music, she thrashes through gabber, techno, hardcore and industrial tracks without neglecting emotive melody. Since releasing her first EP in 2017, her music has been consistently experimental, while her track titles and aesthetics suggest a rebellious spirit.
For her The Face mix, Sentimental Rave is on particularly ruthless form, delivering a pulverising power hour that captures the nervous excitement walking into an austere, strobe-lit warehouse venue. Listen in the player above and check out a Q&A alongside the tracklist below.
Sentimental Rave appears at Concrete Lates, Southbank Centre, London, 28 June.
How did you get into DJing?
I started to DJ three years ago I think. With my friends, I started a party named Les Amours Alternatives. This was linked with our website based on a discussion about women in different forms of art. I never thought about being a DJ, I just really enjoyed warming up for our night, then some friends asked me to DJ for others, and now I’m here.
What makes you feel good when you’re DJing in the club?
I think that is an indescribable feeling. It’s something that you can’t find somewhere else. Being a DJ today, it’s not always easy. Of course, we are really privileged by our way of working, but we are also always being judged by each other, on social media, by people that we don’t know. It can be a lot of pressure sometimes. But when you play, you can disconnect your brain, and for that time you feel that you have control of something. You can guide the audience. It’s very powerful to put something sad – a speech, or something – together with a lot of energy and see how people react. If I can be free in another way I will do it, but for now, I can’t find something similar to this feeling.
Who would you most like to see on the cover of The Face?
I think that so many people are interesting in different ways – some of them are not famous, or cool, like they say. I don’t see only one face, I see a generation, a new one, some collectives and some artists with values, aware about what’s happening in the world right now and still trying to build something new. All these people deserve a cover.
- Fanny – Artists or Anarchists
- Daniel Ruane – Agiel
- Jamie Lidell – Onabouldapushin
- Polygon Windows – Quoth (wooden thump mix)
- Swimful – Nailz
- Tonni 3000 – Hardcore Mind
- Cement Tea – Irresponsible Nosebleedings
- Danirev – 0GravmechDigitalcagematch
- Penelope’s Fiance – The Obsessive
- Emiliaz – Untitled
- Peter Gatien – Bombscare
- Osheyack – Untitled 6
- Terrorythmus — Gr3y
- Ne/Re/A — We Conform
- Laura Grabb — Force Factory
- Sentimental Rave – Get Out (unreleased edit)
- Samix – A1
- Crystal Energy – Liquid Child
- Sick DJ team – Youthanasia
- Plexøs — Crushed World
- Funkmaster Flex & 9 Double M – Six Millions Ways to Die
- IVVVO – Self-rape
