For reasons related to the brain’s love of speed and the straightforward pleasure of an open road, music just sounds better in the car. These behind the wheel moments are what Drove wants their music not only to soundtrack, but to emulate.

After meeting while attending nearby high schools in their native Den Helder, the Dutch duo – Teun Wouters and Eli Salomons – initially bonded over a shared love of music. Wouters liked indie rock; Salomons liked dance music. They got serious about making music that melded the two styles during the pandemic, developing their sound in the studio amidst lockdowns. This period offered uninterrupted time to experiment and ultimately produced the dreamy, transportive output that’s become Drove’s calling card.

Released by Martin Garrix’s STMPD Records, their 2021 debut EP’s Dusk and Dawn included the Dillon Francis collaboration “Places,” which has to date been streamed nearly nine million times on Spotify alone. Drove has since played some of the dance scene’s most prestigious stages, including Tomorrowland in Belgium, Creamfields in the U.K., a New Year’s Eve set in Goa, India and Ibiza’s club mecca Ushuaïa.

These on the road experiences inspired Drove’s 2023 EP, Take Me Somewhere, featuring deep, sophisticated and lyrically vulnerable music.