Wes James, better known by his stage name Le Youth, is an American electronic musician, DJ, and producer. James was raised in Toledo, Ohio and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Le Youth's debut track "Cool" quickly garnered attention on SoundCloud, amassing over 200,000 streams in the six months following its release. The music video for the song was directed by Renata Raksha and was released on April 9, 2013. The single was officially released on Ultra on July 2, 2013, and was later selected as the Record of the Week on BBC Radio 1. James' next single "Dance with Me" featuring vocals from Dominique Young Unique was released on February 7, 2014.
Le Youth continued to release R&B and house-inspired songs in the years following, including remixes of popular tracks like Disclosure's "Voices" and originals like "Real".
On October 7, 2016, Le Youth released "Me Without You" on his own label, Homewerk Records. James cited the label's launch as a way of taking control of his music, particularly with respect to release schedules. "If You're Leaving" also released later that year on Homewerk, reaching number one on Sirius XM's Chill playlist. The accompanying Homewerk Tour saw the artist perform at 13 venues in North America.
By 2017, Le Youth had released remixes of songs by popular singers such as Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, and Sia. On August 4 of that year, "Clap Your Hands" released on Warner Music, featuring then-unknown Ava Max.
The release of Aquiver on November 7, 2019 marked a significant sonic shift in Le Youth's discography. The instrumental record was both inspired by and released on Daniel Goldstein's (Lane 8) This Never Happened label. James hailed the deeper melodic techno and progressive sounds as his best work to date.
On July 9, 2020, Le Youth released his second EP on This Never Happened, Waves. Collaboration with Lane 8 continued with a remix of "The Rope (feat. POLIÃÂA)" and a support role in Goldstein's Brightest Lights Tour.
The PRGRSSN Records imprint was founded by James in 2020 to further explore progressive house and techno sounds. The first release on PRGRSSN came on April 17, 2020 with Interstellar by thomfjord and featured a remix of the title track by Le Youth. On May 14, tracks "Swimming" and "&." followed, marking Le Youth's first release on his new label. PRGRSSN released records from James and other artists through 2022.
Le Youth released his debut album, Reminders, on May 27, 2022. Split into two discs, the former contains fifteen original mixes while the latter comprises four extended mixes. The album features collaborations with fellow melodic house producers such as Sultan & Shepard.
Le Youth released his sophomore album About Us on September 29, 2023. Inspired by a run of crowd-focused live shows in 2022, James expressed his desire to capture a "spectrum of emotions" with the album, with some tracks "[moving] you emotionally" and others "moving the dance floor." About Us [Deluxe] was released on March 15, 2024, and included 8 remixes of 7 songs from the album.
Like About Us, Le Youth referenced one of his previous songs when he released & (EP) on October 11, 2024. This collaboration-focused record was designed to "shine a spotlight" on some of James' favorite up and coming artists; Otherwish, MYRNE, and Robby East were among the names to feature on the EP and have gone on to release music on the This Never Happened label.