Heard It Here First

Mike Jones, better known as Former Hero, combines dance music with influences of ambient, emo, and post-rock to create a soundscape that is uniquely his.

Early on in his childhood, Former Hero fell in love with music through a guitar gifted to his brother. Naturally, this would progress into finding Rock music and even playing in several bands as a teenager. He would stumble on the brilliant discographies of Skrillex and Pendulum at the same time he was engulfed in bands like This Will Destroy You and Caspian. Former Hero became an idiosyncratic culmination of his brilliance and a vast variety of inspirations such as The National, Death Cab For Cutie, Nero, Rustie, and tons more.

In 2018, Former Hero’s dreamy and galvanizing “Our Landscape” took off on SoundCloud and he had officially made his mark on the dance music scene. Not shortly after, within the year, “Changing Tense” would become a festival banger and was played in sets on both the Bass and Melodic spectrum, that gained the attention of the artist who curates the bitbird imprint, San Holo. Impressed by the vibrant juxtaposition of Former Hero’s work, San Holo recruited him to perform for bitbird’s ADE 2019 showcase. Following this would come effervescent Former Hero installments on the label such as “In Lieu” and “Friends Now.”

Today, Former Hero brings us the debut single from his forthcoming album on bitbird, “’Helvellyn.” The track is a mesmerizing meshing of his Indie-Emo-Dance blend featuring glittering synths, burley kicks, cathartic guitar, and Former Hero’s distinct vocals. Chock-full of melancholy emotion, “Helvellyn” proves Former Hero’s innate ability to keep you dancing through the sadness.

While the rest of Former Hero’s album will be coming out on bitbird later this summer, you can listen to “Helvellyn” now below. Be sure to let us know what you thought of this summer anthem in the comments or on our socials!

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