How does the saying go, “Time makes the heart grow fonder?” Nine years have passed since Skrillex released his debut album, Recess, and now he has blessed his patient, longtime fans with a reinvigorated sound on Quest For Fire, his solo second album released on his label, OWSLA, and Atlantic Records.

Since taking the world by storm with his earth-shattering EP, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Skrillex has continually carried the pure, fun vibes of production and DJing. Listening to Quest For Fire immediately has me thinking: “man, this guy is having fun.” And that is something I yearn to see more of in the scene. The lead-up to the album release was supported by a string of singles, most notably his collaboration with Fred Again… and Flowdan on “Rumble.” The track is dripping with bass influences and drum and bass fluctuation that set the tone for listeners for the new album.

However, Skrillex refuses to stay bottled by one genre in this release, evidenced by the amalgamation of longtime and new collaborators found on the project, including Aluna, Eli Keszler, Pete Wentz, Bobby Raps, Starrah, Kito, Swae Lee, Noisia, Dylan Brady, Four Tet, Missy Elliott, PEEKABOO, Nai Barghouti, Mr. Oizo, Porter Robinson, and Bibi Bourelly. The bass scene can get its fill with tracks like “Tears,” which enlists the maddening skills of Joker and help from Sleepnet, and “Supersonic (my existence),” which brings in the legendary trio, NOSIA, along with josh pan and Dylan Brady. “Supersonic (my existence) has been teased and rinsed plenty since its official release, which gave most Skrillex fans hope that something larger was on the horizon.

Skrillex knows what moves a dancefloor (shout out the JACK Ü experiment). If you’re looking for something to groove to, Quest For Fire has its share of crowd-moving tracks. “RATATA” features the iconic rapper Missy Elliott and brings a new production value to her legendary vocals, while “TOO BIZARRE (juked)” will fill the hearts of early clubgoers with its classic jersey club kicks and basslines. To preview and hype his new work, Skrillex uploaded a basement DJ set of the new album full of edits and fun transitions. You can check it out below.

If a basement DJ set of new Skrillex somehow didn’t get you there, he took to the streets of New York City in Times Square with fellow collaborators and friends, Four Tet and Fred again…, to do a pop-up in the back of a street truck. The party was set up and hosted by The Lot Radio, a longtime flagship of underground sound, to give pre-party vibes to the almost immediately sold-out Madison Square Garden rave hosted by the formerly mentioned artists, during which he dropped an entire second album, Don’t Get Too Close. Watch the madness unfold:

While listening to Quest For Fire, I couldn’t help but be stunned by the crisp sound of each element contained within. Every bit of sound used is uniquely mixed and mastered to create an incredible blend of each track. The prolific artist born Sonny Moore, of course, mixed, mastered and engineered the entire album, but he also enlisted a superstar roster to help produce the project, including, Joker, Four Tet, Joyryde, Manny Marroquin, ISOxo, and Peekaboo on mixing, and Luca Pretolesi, Bernie Grundman, Joker, Mike Bozzi, ISOxo, and Joyryde assisting with mastering.

Without a doubt, this album will inspire countless artists while also becoming a new staple of sunset gigs and late-night affairs. An ode to what sounds good, I can’t help but thank Sonny for constantly pushing the boundaries of electronic music to make genuinely timeless art. Stream Quest For Fire:

See more on Soundazed