As DJ Meme returns to the spotlight with his radiant new single ‘So Beautiful’ alongside Antoinette Dunleavy on The Disco Express, it feels less like a new chapter and more like the continuation of a story nearly four decades in the making. A cornerstone of Brazilian dance culture and a former member of New York’s legendary Def Mix collective, the artist has built a career on patience, precision, and musicality, qualities that define both his legacy and this latest release.
Photo credit: DJ Meme – Official
‘So Beautiful’ is a fitting catalyst for this edition of Chapters in Sound. Warm, soulful, and meticulously crafted, the record took more than 15 years to fully realise, a testament to Meme’s refusal to release music until it feels timeless. That same considered approach runs through his catalogue, from deeply personal originals to bold, orchestral remixes that have reshaped dancefloor history.
In this reflective feature, Meme revisits the records that shaped him, including the long-gestating ‘Century’ on Defected Records, the emotionally charged ‘Saudade’ for Nervous Records, and his audacious rework of ‘The Cure & The Cause’ for Defected Records, unpacking the stories, risks, and moments of inspiration behind each one.
What emerges is a portrait of an artist guided not by trends, but by feeling, someone who understands that true groove is never rushed, and that the most powerful chapters in sound are often the ones that take the longest to write.
DJ Meme ft. Antoinette Dunleavy – So Beautiful – Disco Express Records
The story behind this song dates back to 2008 when I met Antoinete on MySpace, an old social media site. She approached me and showed me her music, and I immediately wanted to record with her because she’s a fantastic singer and songwriter.
Years later, I arranged to meet her in Paris to record ‘So Beautiful,’ but the song had never been released because I wasn’t happy with my own arrangement. I kept it for years on my computer until one day this whole new arrangement came to my mind fully formed, then I finished it in 2 days only. As you know now, it took me more than 15 years to complete it.
DJ Meme – Saudade – Nervous Records
Saudade is the Portuguese word that defines the feeling we have when we miss someone, or when we miss a place or a time. This word only exists in Portuguese.
The track was created without any pretension when I was trying to do something different from my usual sound, and it’s entirely based on those chords. After the chords, the bass line came out immediately and very naturally, and then the rest of the embellishments. When the foundation of the song was formed, I called in a jazz pianist to give it the exact emotion and complexity of the feeling I wanted to convey, and the name of the track came naturally because, at the end, when I listened to it, it gave me a tight anguish in my chest, as if it were longing for someone. I consider it my best track to date.
DJ Meme – Century/Big Love – Defected Records
This was a track that sat on my computer for 5 years before I managed to complete it. It all starts with a sample of Richard Strauss’s music, which luckily was already in the public domain, meaning we could use any recording without having to pay the expensive permission fee to the author. Even with the sample ready and in the beat, I didn’t know how to proceed with the music, whether to add vocals or do something based solely on the sample. Five years later, I had a session in my studio with a keyboardist and asked him to play a Fender Rhodes solo on the track. The moment he played, I realized what the song should be, and then it was finished in three days only.
PS: Making this song instrumentally with a solo was the seed for me to create ‘Saudade’ and see that it was possible for something purely instrumental and jazzy to work.
Fish Go Deep – The Cure and the Cause (DJ Meme Philly Suite Mix) – Defected Records
This remix has a crazy story. It started 1 year after Dennis Ferrer’s remix became a worldwide hit when a friend sent me an original version of the song, but only with vocals and keyboards. For the first time, I heard the harmony of the original, which nobody knew because Dennis Ferrer’s remix had overshadowed it. I immediately went crazy for that harmony and called Simon Dunmore, asking him for the parts to make my own remix. He immediately told me he wasn’t going to work on that song anymore and that it wasn’t worth making any more remixes after a year had passed. I had to come up with something to convince him to give me the parts, and irresponsibly, I suggested “a disco version with a real orchestra playing over it”, and that’s when he accepted the idea and sent me the parts. Then I had to figure out an arrangement with a very expensive orchestra and pay everyone to see if it would work. Luckily, it did, and everyone was happy.
Hardsoul – Back Together (DJ Meme Classic Remix) – Soulfuric Records
After the huge success of the 2003 original version, which everyone agrees is one of the biggest modern house hits to this day, Soulfuric requested several remixes, and one of them was for me. However, as we know, nobody paid attention to the remixes because the original version remained strong and popular for all these years; however, five years ago, Simon “Shapeshifters” Marlin played it at Glitterbox in Croatia, and several DJs who had never heard it before went crazy for the version. That’s when everyone rushed to play it bringin’it back to now. This version has a fresh feel, but it’s actually over 13 years old.
DJ Meme’s ‘So Beautiful’ is out now via The Disco Express. Stream and download here.
