Spiritbox Teams With Slander on Crushing EDM Collaboration

THE DROP

Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante just dropped “Under My Skin” with L.A. DJ duo SLANDER — a rock-dubstep hybrid three years in the making that pairs her growls and cleans with bass drops and chunky guitar riffs from Mike Stringer ^*. SLANDER had been road-testing a demo version in their live sets before the official June 12 release ^*.

WHAT TO KNOW

• Features both LaPlante’s signature growled and sung vocals over SLANDER’s bass drops, with Stringer contributing guitar riffs and lead lines ^*

• The collaboration took more than three years to complete from initial concept to release ^*

• Dropped the day after Spiritbox kicked off their North American tour with Evanescence in Tampa ^*

• LaPlante has been expanding her EDM crossover presence — she appeared on stage with Illenium earlier this year ^*

THE TAKE

The combination of LaPlante’s vocal precision and Stringer’s riffs with electronic production could either validate the rock-EDM crossover or feel like a compromise neither side asked for. SLANDER praised LaPlante’s studio scream performance as “astounding” ^*, which suggests the metal elements weren’t watered down — that’s the detail that matters.