Skrillex Stuns in Surprise Experimental EP, ‘Kora’

Skrillex has let his freak flag fly with the release of a three-track EP titled Kora. It’s not seemingly made with dancefloors in mind, but it showcases his versatility.

What can’t Skrillex do? Almost three years ago, the decorated producer proved that his most innovative years weren’t behind him with the genre-bending album that was Quest For Fire. Now, he’s done it again, this time with a highly experimental EP titled Kora on his own OWSLA imprint.

None of the three tracks comprising the effort seem to have been made for dancefloors — at least, none that we can imagine. “Yo Yan” sees Skrillex (real name Sonny Moore) affix seemingly random sound affects and vocals by Sacred Family to a wonky rhythm, letting the arrangement temporarily drift into a tranquil acoustic guitar melody before bringing the cacophony back in.

Then comes, “Someone Said,” so named for the Swae Lee song it samples. But the similarities end there. Buoyed by one of Moore’s signature maximalist melodies, it takes eclectic twists and turns that could each have been built out into their own individual concepts.

Kora concludes with its title track — and what a conclusion it is. The single starts out with 40 seconds of soothing ambient before pop punk-reminiscent vocals of Siiickbrain come in. But after two minutes, “Kora” makes its most compelling statement. A conversation between muted basses and cortex-tingling glitch effects sounds unlike anything else out there, pointing to a potential area of exploration for modern producers.

It wouldn’t be the first time Moore influenced a generation of dance music artists, after all. His 2010 EP, My Name Is Skrillex, introduced the growling bass that would become virtually omnipresent in dubstep over the next few years, and in 2012, he won GRAMMY Awards in three separate categories. That made it all the more impressive when he reinvented the wheel once again with Quest For Fire — but he revisited his heavy bass sound of old in his 2025 album, F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3.

Moore did not create Kora in a vacuum, to be sure. A look at each track’s liner notes shows that he was aided by fellow artists Eurohead, Varg2, swedm, and Virtual Riot on all three, with the likes of White Armor, Luca Pretolesi, Heavy Mellow, Rex Kudo, and Peter Lee credited on individual songs.

Stream Kora by Skrillex on Spotify, and pre-order a 12″ vinyl record of the EP on his official website.

Stream Skrillex – Kora on Spotify:

Skrillex – Kora – Tracklist:

Yo Yan

Someone Said

Kora