Riton

Henry Smithson, working under the Riton alias, produces dance music across an expansive stylistic range that runs from gritty atmospheric beats through eccentric electronic textures to straightforward high-energy club tracks. He first surfaced near the close of the 1990s as a somber trip-hop artist whose debut album Beats du Jour reached listeners on the Grand Central label linked to Rae & Christian in 2001. The punk-inflected electro-funk of Homies and Homos followed in 2004, after which his output shifted steadily toward more celebratory material. By the early 2010s Riton had established himself within the electro-house and EDM circuit through releases on Ed Banger, Dim Mak and OWSLA, while the 2016 single “Rinse & Repeat” featuring Nigerian vocalist Kah-Lo became a substantial success. The pair issued the 2018 album Foreign Ororo, fusing house, dancehall and Afrobeats elements. Additional chart successes arrived with the 2019 track “Turn Me On” alongside Oliver Heldens and the 2021 release “Friday” with Nightcrawlers. Subsequent collaborations have involved Jarvis Cocker, David Guetta, Belters Only and further artists.

Smithson’s path into dance music began amid 1990s club culture and repeated journeys across the UK to Renaissance events, which inspired him to start his own promotions near his Newcastle base. Appearances in the city and resulting connections led to the creation of the Switch label, whose output eventually found its way into the record bag of Manchester hip-hop figure Mark Rae. Rae then provided Smithson with employment at the Fat City record shop in Manchester together with an avenue for solo work under the Riton name—a shortened form of “Henri,” the French version of his given name—on the established Grand Central imprint. Although the resulting 2001 album Beats du Jour blended soul, R&B and house in ways that appeared removed from other Grand Central artists, Smithson’s persistent rumbling bass lines and Funkadelic-derived keyboard work supplied a clear connection to hip-hop.

The 2004 follow-up Homies and Homos, also issued on Grand Central, departed from the debut’s direction by drawing from contemporaneous electro-funk acts and included a version of the Cure’s Camus-inspired single “Killing an Arab.” By then Riton’s parallel reputation as a remixer had already taken hold through work with Scissor Sisters, the Human League and Soulwax among numerous others. He maintained a steady flow of remixes through the 2000s, notably for M.I.A. and Chromeo, and issued two singles with Primary 1 in 2009. Solo material under the Riton name did not reappear until 2011 with the release of the aptly titled “Dark Place”/“A.C.P.,” which arrived shortly after the sudden passing of his Carte Blanche partner DJ Mehdi, with whom he had crafted one of Ed Banger’s strongest sellers, Carte Blanche’s “Gare du Nord.”

In the year after the loss Riton maintained a measured presence before returning in 2013 with the four-track EP Lost My Mind, one cut of which featured French electroclash veteran Miss Kittin. A further Ed Banger EP, 2014’s Bad Guy RiRi, arrived next and reinforced the blend of Riton’s funk and soul leanings with the label’s robust French house aesthetic linked to mid-2000s electro acts such as Mr. Oizo and Justice.

Separately, the collaborative project Die Verboten released the LP 2007 in late 2015, titled for the year its material originated before remaining unreleased for eight years. Comprising Riton alongside 2ManyDJs brothers David and Stephen Dewaele plus designer Fergus “Fergadelic” Purcell, the group characterized the record’s early Kraftwerk-inspired cosmic pieces as space rock given the central roles of live drums, bass and synths. That undertaking appeared to shape Riton’s thinking at the time, coinciding with the 2008 emergence of his alias Eine Kleine Nacht Musik and its own heavily Krautrock-oriented self-titled album.

Riton’s ongoing demand for remixing and production persisted, exemplified by his 2015 co-production on Mark Ronson’s “Daffodils” featuring Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, while he also joined Ronson on the 2014 Back to Back tour. The 2016 arrival of his own tech-house track “Rinse & Repeat” featuring Lagos/New York vocalist Kah-Lo received strong support, securing extensive radio play and multiple weeks at number one on the BBC Radio 1 dance chart; the song earned a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 2017 Grammy Awards. Kah-Lo featured on later Riton singles including “Betta Riddim,” “Fake ID” and “Ginger.” Riton additionally produced the gospel-tinged 2017 collaboration “Deeper” with MNEK and co-produced the 2018 Silk City track “Only Can Get Better” by Mark Ronson and Diplo. October 2018 brought the full-length Foreign Ororo from Riton and Kah-Lo, which included appearances by Afrobeats artists Mr Eazi and Davido.

In 2019 Riton and Oliver Heldens joined singer Vula Malinga for the single “Turn Me On,” built around the synth hook from Yaz’s “Don’t Go.” The track achieved global reach, climbing to number 12 in the UK and reaching the top of Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart. Further releases followed as part of the duos Gucci Soundsystem with “Mr. Todd Terry” and KUU with “How Could I Ever,” plus a collaboration with Boy Matthews on “Too High.” In 2021 Riton reworked MK’s 1995 remix of Nightcrawlers’ “Push the Feeling On” together with online personalities Mufasa & Hypeman; released by Ministry of Sound under the title “Friday,” the track became a major worldwide success and secured gold or platinum certifications in multiple territories.

Additional 2021 activity included the song “Come with Me” with Bad Boy Chiller Crew, the KUU EP How to Change Your Mind alongside co-producer Alex Metric and featured artist Shungudzo, and the single “I Don’t Want You” featuring RAYE. Gucci Soundsystem, the duo of Riton and Ben Rymer, issued “Let’s Stick Around” featuring Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker and later featured Vula on the 2022 single “Fuck Me Right.” Riton next joined Major League Djz, King Promise and Clementine Douglas for the track “Chale.” His 2023 singles comprised “Sugar” featuring Soaky Siren, “Where You Want” with David Guetta and Jozzy, and “Never Knew Love” alongside Belters Only and Enisa.