Finding meaning in the peaks and valleys: Krewella returns after 4 years with triumphant new album, ‘Peak’ + Interview

It’s hard to put into words how much that name, “Krewella,” has meant to the dance genre over the last 15 years. The scope of impact that the Yousaf’s have had on the EDM scene and an entire generation of dance fans is as boundless as their music. 

What’s fascinating is that the story of ‘Peak’ actually started with the desire to step away from music. Before the end of the tour of their last album in 2022, ‘The Body Never Lies,’ the Yousaf’s had been having discussions about how a possible hiatus might be the exact thing that they needed in the moment. “[Me and Jahan] were having discussions because we were both in a similar place about how it would be really probably beneficial to [me and Jahan’s] relationship, to our mental health, and wellness in general, and even just like the relationship to Krewella, to take some time away,” Yasmine said. “It was completely undefined.” After the tour, the two planned to be just sisters rather than sisters AND Krewella. No matter what that upcoming break was going to look like in those moments moving forward, it was unclear whether the two would make music under Krewella again. 

The break looked different for both Jahan and Yasmine. Jahan continued to be a student of music, continuing her lessons in guitar and voice. “It definitely felt like there was intentional space apart from us working as creative partners and business partners, which I think was healthy for us to kind of go on our own separate creative paths and do our own soul-searching,” said Jahan. “That we [could] come back together and get curious again about what it might look like for us to create music as these newer versions of ourselves.” For Yasmine, it was a complete removal from the art form. After turning in the final version of the last album, it wasn’t for another two years that she would open Ableton or even record a voice note on her phone that involved a musical idea. “[The break was very liberating], but also really there were moments in the two years where… I felt so lost and honestly quite depressed because in that wandering you can lose your sense of… like my identity is so wrapped up in being a musician… and by the way, I don’t think that’s a good or bad thing. I think that’s a neutral thing. I think you can make it good and you can make it bad… It’s like having an organ. It’s just part of you, and so not having that felt like I was suddenly not myself anymore, and I had to relearn so much. And it was really powerful. It was really humbling. It was really scary, and also it was kind of funny at times,” said Yasmine.

For fans of the two, this realization might seem a little jarring, given that the Yousaf’s have been in the lives of dance admirers constantly for 15 years. However, when you pull back the curtain, it is totally reasonable. The Yousaf sisters have given everything they have to this genre, blessing us with unforgettable memories through the highest and lowest times of a tremendous career. To put it simply, the hiatus was more than earned. 

If the process of creating music under the name Krewella ever happened again, the two sisters trusted it would come naturally rather than through forced creativity. 

“I think it can be such an uncomfortable place to be because I think people around you… are wondering what direction we’re in and why there’s no clarity and why there’s no defined plan as to where you’re gonna head. And I think though in those moments, as creative people, you’re fully surrendering to the mystery of life.”

Jahan Yousaf, Krewella

And honestly, isn’t that what has made the two so special to the genre overall this time? In an industry that can quickly become about monetary value and the “what have you done for me lately” mentality, Jahan and Yasmine have always been unapologetically themselves and create art through the lens of their personal connection to their world experiences as individuals and sisters. They have never wavered from that. Krewella has always been a reflection of who the Yousaf’s are rather than the other way around. That’s how it should always be. 

However, after all that time away from music and experiencing the world as just sisters and going on their own personal journeys, not knowing if any of that would ever lead back to the two working as creative partners again, as Jahan said, “it did.”

In 2024, just a few days after Krewella decided that it felt like the right time to get back in the studio and start creating again, they made ‘Eternal’ one of the first singles from the project, and what ultimately started the foundation of ‘Peak.’ Now, you might be wondering, from earlier, when it was mentioned that two years ago was the origin of the new album, and thinking to yourself, “well isn’t this technically the start of the album?” While that’s a fair argument, the truth is that ‘Peak’ does not happen without those two years of exploration from Jahan and Yasmine. That time away from Krewella creatively, and the experiences they had, led them to make an album that was waiting to be unleashed. Just as much as Krewella needed the break, ‘Peak’ needed it too. 

And now that the project has officially dropped, it’s easy to say that this is Krewella’s greatest and deepest work of art yet. Featuring 12 tracks, ‘Peak’ is a beautiful exploration of the human condition of experiencing and connecting the highs and lows of life and how the world views our “peaks.” Every mountaintop is another chapter in an evolution of false summits (whether good or bad) that leads to the next peak on a person’s journey. It’s a never-ending process. 

“Everything is just a moment… The peak is such an illusion. The most important thing, Jahan and I, I think that we’ve learned on our journey together, and then taken that and infused it in our music, is that we have had so many moments that are the greatest… and some of the lowest that demolished us for periods of time. We talk about integrating those really high high moments with the really really low moments and putting them together. That’s our music. That’s literally our music. That ride, that wave, that roller coaster is our music.”

Yasmine Yousaf, Krewella

You can see this in the album’s visual representation, too. Krewella plays on nostalgia to get their message across by using old mobile phones, television sets, camcorders, and even a throne of laptops. “These are all pieces of technology from that once felt like a peak technological experience in modern society, and we wanted to play with this idea of nostalgia and creating art out of something that was once so coveted and valuable, but now is so disposable, and just creating something beautiful out of a wasteland, basically,” said Jahan. 

The album embodies everything that Krewella has become known for throughout their career. The number of different genres featured in the project, and how expertly they are intertwined, is breathtaking. From elements of techno, drum and bass, trap, melodic bass, house, and so many others, ‘Peak’ has no boundaries and is not afraid to go wherever the creativity takes it. 

‘Peak’ starts with a beautiful 51-second intro, ‘lost in Paraty,’ that features elements of the beautiful natural sounds of Brazil. It then blends directly into the first full track of the album, ‘press play,’ that incorporates the sisters’ undeniable vocals in an emotional melody about trying to slow time down and return to the moments we want. From there, they continue that message with the title track of the album, ‘PEAK.’ Krewella then gets more aggressive with a trap sound reminiscent of their 2016 EP, ‘Ammunition,’ as they portray the tale of not being heard and rebellion in ‘Hear Me Now.’ The album then dives into two of the singles that were released during the album rollout: ‘Crying On The Dancefloor,’ a masterful and emotive melodic techno track, and ‘Eternal,’ which explores the sounds of drum and bass. Next comes arguably one of the most beautifully crafted tracks in the Krewella discography, ‘Falling Rain,’ which introduces the melodic bass side of the two sisters alongside their drum and bass identity. 

As the back half of ‘Peak’ begins, Krewella takes the listener back to the underground with ‘TILL IT HITS!,’ a hard-hitting, dark, and deep techno track with elements of trap that will be a dream for any bass-head listening. The next song, ‘where did U go?,’ keeps that same trap identity but adds a melodic feel, with a message of longing for connection with the lyrics, “All I wanna know is, where did you go? Cause I can’t sleep. All I wanna know is, where did you go? Cause I can’t dream.” The track then raises the tempo to get the listener ready for the album’s final stretch, with a faster house drop in the second half. We’re then met with another single from the album’s rollout, ‘Something Sacred.’ Another melodic techno masterpiece that embodies a message of finding truth and realness in times when it is hard to distinguish them. Krewella then goes full drum and bass in ‘Without You.’ The track is inspired by the sisters’ incredibly close relationship with their cousin Nida and how the thought of living in this world without one another is unimaginable. The drop features a breathtaking whisper chant from Jahan that is an outstanding creative choice in this genre and something rarely heard. 

The final track happens to be the last single released before ‘Peak’ officially dropped. There isn’t a better way to finish this album than with ‘the blueprint,’ a track about originality, something that Krewella deeply believes in when it comes to creating music. The track leans on that techno sound one final time (that has been so expertly sprinkled throughout the album) and then finishes with drum and bass on the second drop. No matter who you think of when you listen to this track, whether it’s you or someone else, the core of the message is that nobody can replicate that individual. In a world right now so fixated on artificial intelligence and copying others for gain, ‘the blueprint’ is a reminder that every human and piece of human-made art is a one-of-one. The song then ends on a mysterious fade-out, leaving the question: “Will there be more music in the future from Jahan and Yasmine?” Who knows? That will be up for Krewella to decide when the time comes. 

‘Peak’ is an extraordinary work of art that feels like everything Krewella has been working up to for the last 15 years. Not to sound cliché, but it is the most Krewella that Krewella has ever been. It embodies everything they have learned along the way through their own peaks and valleys as musicians, and as they raised the question in their album trailer, they actually are the ones who have found the perfect blend of those experiences to create something awe-inspiring and timeless. Yasmine has mentioned that classics never die; well, ‘Peak’ now belongs in that conversation. 

The album couldn’t have come at a better time, too, as the music industry continues to be infiltrated with questions about AI and where that technology belongs in the creative world; Krewella continues to shine a light and champion human-made art and the hard work that goes into it. 

“I think that ties in with this illusion of the peak. It’s like people trying to expedite their process and get a shortcut to what they think is a peak moment, whether that’s a finished product or a song that’s charting after a month of starting a process of creating an AI song, whatever it is, I think it’s people chasing this status or to achieve something. And Yasmine and I have talked a lot about our role as artists… why do we, as humans, why would we spend so much time in our craft and chipping away at a song and wrestling over the production and the songwriting and our vocal quality? And we keep coming back to like that journey of creating, and whether it’s enjoying the process or embracing the struggle and challenge of it is the point.”

Jahan Yousaf, Krewella

It could be very easy for artists to see the ever-changing landscape of the industry they have grown up in and decide to conform to the new ways of achieving gratification rather than sticking to a true sense of what made them them. However, in a world that has become so quickly synthetic and moves from one thing to the next in record time, Krewella is okay with being outsiders and, in return, is more connected to their music, artistry, and themselves now than ever before. 

“Jahan and I, we set a standard for ourselves; we have what we like and what we want for our project… and the people who appreciate that, they’ll come. They’ll be there. And I know that I feel that, and Jahan does too. It’s like the reason why we can still do what we do is because there’s people who still want that.”

Yasmine Yousaf, Krewella

‘Peak’ is undoubtedly Krewella’s magnum opus. It not only explores a topic that relates to everybody who is trying to find themselves in this world, but it is also one of the most beautiful, well-written, well-produced, and consistent works of art that we have heard in quite some time. You think back to that 2-year hiatus, when the sisters were trying to discover if there was a next chapter of Krewella; well, it’s safe to say they have unlocked it. Now we get the pleasure and honor of seeing how Krewella paints it on the canvas. 

This world is easy to get lost in, and to be honest, it often happens, but people like Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf, and the genuine art they create as sisters and Krewella, help us find our way back to purpose. 

Stream ‘Peak,’ the 4th album by Krewella via Mixed Kids Records here. Purchase tickets to their upcoming shows here. And make sure to read the full album Q&A in the September Edition of We Rave You’s digital magazine later this month.