Pendulum and Armin van Buuren Unveil High-Energy Drum & Bass Collaboration Marking Armin van Buuren’s First Original Track in the Genre
Friday, April 11, 2025 – Pioneering drum-and-bass metal band Pendulum and legendary trance DJ and producer Armin van Buuren have joined forces for their debut collaboration, ‘Sound of You,’ out today on Armada Music. This high-voltage drum-and-bass festival weapon was crafted during a joint studio session in early 2024, later debuting at Tomorrowland Belgium 2024, and stands out as a rare dance linkup for Pendulum, who have recently been focused on their live music setup.
The collaboration stemmed from a shared admiration between the artists. Initially, ‘Sound of You’ started as a big room progressive house track penned by Armin van Buuren, featuring Pendulum’s Rob Swire on vocals—marking Swire’s first feature in several years—which was released last month. Inspired by their shared creative energy, Armin van Buuren suggested developing a drum-and-bass version together with Pendulum—an idea that quickly took shape in the studio.
Rob Swire, frontman of Pendulum, reflected on the collaboration: “Armin and I had talked about working together for a while. When he played me the original ‘Sound of You,’ I knew instantly I wanted to sing on it. After that, Armin suggested doing a drum-and-bass version, and he had so many great ideas. We sat down in early 2024 to refine them together, and it all came together really quickly. We even road-tested together at Tomorrowland Belgium 2024, where it got an amazing reception.”
For Armin van Buuren, stepping into the drum & bass world was an exciting challenge: “Drum-and-bass isn’t my usual space, but I had some ideas and it was a no-brainer to collaborate closely with Pendulum on this version. Being in the studio together made all the difference, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.”
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Formed in 2002 by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and Paul ‘El Hornet’ Harding, Pendulum quickly took to the road, touring across their native home in Perth to internationally acclaimed clubs and festivals around the release of their seminal debut album ‘Hold Your Colour’. After relocating to the UK and forming the Pendulum live band, El Hornet took the reins on the Pendulum DJ Sets and has spent the past 15 years performing at some of the biggest electronic festivals in the world including Liquicity, Let It Roll, Rampage, Dreambeach and EDC.
Now alternating between the individual band members, and sometimes performing as a trio, the Pendulum DJ sets have taken on a life of their own with a huge global presence and genre spanning shows ranging from drum and bass, house, techno, tech house breaks and hardcore.To find upcoming events and shows for Pendulum DJ set, please visit our Tour Page where you can find ticketing information.
Armin van Buuren has long been a global ambassador for electronic music. He currently has nine full-length artist albums to his name — ‘Breathe In’ included — and continues to cultivate a massive worldwide following through his weekly A State of Trance radio show, event series and album series, reaching 44 million listeners from more than 80 different countries on a weekly basis. Armin van Buuren headlines tens to hundreds of shows per year at leading festivals and venues around the world, including Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, New York), Ultra Music Festival (Miami), Lollapalooza (Chicago) and Tomorrowland (Belgium) plus residencies on Ibiza and in Las Vegas. Past summer alone, he reconnected with fans through over thirty shows, including the ‘Feel Again’ shows in the Ziggo Dome, Ultra Europe, Tomorrowland, Parookaville, Creamfields, Electric Zoo and his summer residencies at Hï Ibiza and Ushuaïa.
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Robert Swire-Thompson is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and DJ, best known as the founder and vocalist of the Australian drum and bass and electronic rock band Pendulum, as well as DJ and co-founder of electro house duo Knife Party formed of Swire and Gareth McGrillen.
As well as being part of two massive international touring acts, Swire has also lent his vocal talents to the likes of Deadmau5 for the multi-platinum single ‘Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff’ as well as ‘Monophobia’, and Eric Prydz on ‘Breathe’, as well as writing and production credits with Rihanna.
About Armada Music
About Armada Music
Armada Music is the biggest independent dance music label in the world. Founded by Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron (CEO) and David Lewis, the label manages an ever-growing catalog of over 50,000 tracks built up across twenty-plus years of specialized dance music exploitation.
Representing artists such as Armin van Buuren, ARTY, D.O.D, Eelke Kleijn, Jan Blomqvist, Joris Voorn, KI/KI, Lilly Palmer, Loud Luxury, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, THEMBA and Yulia Niko, Armada Music amasses more than one billion streams per month, airplay on leading radio outlets such as BBC Radio 1 and Sirius XM, and top positions in the world’s most notable charts. Significant label milestones include Armin van Buuren's Grammy nomination for 'This Is What It Feels Like' and two tracks surpassing one billion streams on Spotify: Loud Luxury and Brando’s ‘Body’ and Lost Frequencies’ ‘Are You With Me’.
Across offices in Amsterdam (HQ), New York, London and Laren (NL), Armada Music offers a global appeal to its growing roster. The label has its own club, radio studio and multiple production studios, and hosts various live formats. Producer platform Armada University, which offers educational products and opportunities, shows the label’s sustained effort to nurture the next wave of talent. For more information, visit www.armadamusic.com, @armadamusic on Instagram and @armada on X.
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