Talk to Orlando Higginbottom, aka TEED, about his decades-long relationship with electronic music, and words like “love,” “obsession” and “addiction” soon start to pepper the conversation. Born into a family of musicians — his father is a renowned organist and choirmaster — the British artist spent his childhood training in piano and classical singing, while becoming a true devotee of jungle and drum & bass. He often skipped school to be first in line and snap up the latest bargains at his Oxford record shop. After years spent experimenting in his bedroom, his sharp ear and all-consuming passion paid off, with releases on popular 2000s labels like Greco-Roman, Play It Down and later Polydor. At the time, of course, he was Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs — a project born from a private joke, and certainly not meant to last beyond a few posts on MySpace. But success was immediate, and he quickly won over clubs and festivals around the world with his vocal dance-pop style. Los Angeles was always a must-stop. While on tour, he made the bold decision in 2015 to settle there for good. For more than a decade, Los Angeles has been his home and workplace, where he has flourished as an accomplished studio producer while developing his solo career. It is also where he discovered a different nightlife: new sounds, new rhythms, new energies. Los Angeles is indeed a true muse for his long-awaited album, DJ-Kicks, which sparkles with all the colors and charisma of a Californian sunset. Or, more precisely, the mood that comes before a big night out in the city. “I was thinking a lot about what Americans call ‘pre-gaming,’ which is a pretty funny expression,” he explains. “It’s that feeling of putting on a nice mix before going out, while getting ready and having a drink. That was my guiding thread while creating the album.” “That’s how I imagined people would listen to it.” That laid-back vibe runs through the mix, which, after a short beatless intro, dives headfirst into a driving house bassline. That track, “Everybody” by Casino Times, is one of the exclusives, alongside tracks by Joe Goddard, Austin Ato, Jacques Greene and Oscar Farrell. According to TEED, he instinctively knew he didn’t want a mix that needed “seven tracks to get going.” To put it together, he revisited DJ-Kicks classics — Tiga, Erlend Øye, Honey Dijon — and quickly understood that a powerful, soulful, punchy house sound was the way to go. “I wanted to do something uptempo and club,” he added. “I was convinced of that from the start. I just want people to listen to it and get moving.”