February: 9 trance releases you need to hear this month

The Thrillseekers 'Escape' (Future Sound of Egypt)

Steve Helstrip, aka The Thrillseekers, has been making music since 1998. It’s surprising, then, that he’s only got round to releasing his debut artist album now. He’s been working on the record for the past 10 years, keeping aside some of his favourite productions to create a meaningful album which, he says, is all about evoking feelings and being able to escape from everyday life. Unlike a typical Future Sound Of Egypt release, it’s an LP made up of chilled, emotional and mostly vocal tracks such as ‘Where Are You Now’ and ‘Without You’. We would’ve thought he’d have included his 1999 breakthrough record ‘Synaesthesia’, as well as his 2008 Fisher collaboration ‘The Last Time’ – but by featuring more recent singles such as ‘Amber’ and his remix of Chicane’s ‘Halcyon’, he’s shown everyone just how much else he has to offer.

8/10

Dave Pearce & Ben Hennessy 'Ayla' (Delirium)

Following the success of their track ‘So Damn Beautiful’, Dave Pearce and Ben Hennessy join forces again to remix another trance classic; this time, they’ve chosen Ayla’s huge, self-titled single from 1996. Often, remixes come along which aren’t different enough from the original, but that’s not the case here: Pearce and Hennessy add lots of interesting FX to bring something new to a record that’s always guaranteed to fill a dancefloor.

9/10

Lostly 'Rage At The Stars' (Outburst Twilight)

It’s been a while since we heard anything from Germany’s Lostly, so we’re glad to see he’s back to mark the start of 2017. Making a departure from his home at Discover Records, this is his debut on Outburst’s new sub-label, which was inspired by those dark clubbing moments when you’ve lost everyone and everything but still just can’t leave the dancefloor. With that in mind, he delves a bit deeper than usual to create this driving trance track that’s blissfully hazy and uplifting one minute and then a full-blown psychedelic trip the next.

7/10

Westlake & Jennifer Rene 'Where You Are' (In Trance We Trust)

She may be best known for featuring on Armin’s 2008 track ‘Fine Without You’, but American vocalist Jennifer Rene has also sung on records by Markus Schulz, John O’Callaghan and Giuseppe Ottaviani. Now, following on from her huge ‘Heart Call’ collab with Solid Stone last year, she’s lending her talents to Westlake. A high-energy pumping club track, her stunning vocal work provides an intensely chilling (but very welcome) break. It’s not Armin’s tune this time but he is supporting it, as are names such as Photographer and Menno De Jong, too.

7/10

Lange 'The First Rebirth' (Create music)

If you want to know what it was like to rave in the 90s, all you have to do is listen to Jones & Stephenson’s hard trance/techno track ‘The First Rebirth’. Although it was released way back in 1993, its euphoric melody is timeless, as Lange proves with his new remix. Staying true to the raw drums and percussion of the original, he subtly hints at the melody throughout the techno-driven intro before revealing it fully in a breakdown that crescendos into a roll of snares and acidic blips. It’s an innovative combination of techno and trance.

8/10

Alex Klingle 'Colors Back' (Marcus Santoro remix) (Enhanced Progressive)

Canadian producer Alex Klingle describes his music as “melody-driven progressive trance layered with organic instrumentation and intricate electronic elements”. Filled with guitars, plucks and rolling bass, his 2016 release ‘Colors Back’ was certainly that. By adding atmospherics and pads and making more of the bassline, Marcus Santoro’s progressive trance remix builds on those ingredients to make for a lush, chord-heavy arrangement, but although the release also includes reworks from Matt Fax, Urbandawn and Clear Skys, it’s the instrumental remix that’s seeing heavy support from Above & Beyond.

7/10

Markus Schulz 'The New World' (Davey Asprey rework) (CDR)

Following on from his unofficial remix of Filterheadz’ ‘Yimanya’, Davey Asprey has now decided to try his hand at reworking Markus Schulz’ huge 2008 track ‘The New World’. We’re not sure what else you can really bring to such an evocative and epic track, though, and apart from having a more traditional, harder trance sound, this take doesn’t stray far enough away from the original. It’s an okay remix but, with Asprey having admitted to spending a good few years working on it, we were expecting more from him. Despite that, it’s still garnered early support from the likes of Judge Jules, Giuseppe Ottaviani and Manuel Le Saux.

6/10

Max Freegrant 'Sometimes We Need To Forget' (Aleksey Sladkov remix) (Freegrant Music)

With all the coverage he’s been getting from us recently, you’d be forgiven for thinking we’ve been sponsored by Max Freegrant over the past few months. But considering the sheer volume and impressive quality of releases his label puts out, the attention is genuinely well-deserved. Its latest offering is three new remixes of his summer 2016 single ‘Sometimes We Need To Forget’ ,including this standout euphoric trance version from Aleksey Sladkov (which, thankfully, is still led by Canadian singer Brandon Hills’ touching lyrics). With the package also including a groove house remix from Judge Jules and a progressive house remix from Portuguese talent Silva, we wouldn’t be surprised if the reworks gain more traction than the original.

7/10

Robbie Van Doe 'Odious' (Critical State)

Robbie Van Doe is known for his dark, energetic releases on Discover Records. His latest release sees him return to Critical State, but it’s still everything you’d expect from the Wolverhampton-based producer thanks to its dark, menacing male vocals, monstrous rolling basslines, evil acid hooks and colossal amounts of energy. This may be all he does, but at least he does it well.

7/10