November: 10 trance releases you need to hear this month

Dave Pearce 'Delirium Summer Trance' (Newstate Music)

There’s no denying Dave Pearce’s longstanding passion for dance music: he was an integral part of Kiss 100’s early line-up when it first became a legal radio station, created the iconic Dance Anthems Show for Radio 1 and presented dance programmes on both ITV and MTV. His enthusiasm is still evident today, too, as proven by this new
mix compilation. “I’ve tried to make the album a musical journey that reflects the many dimensions of today’s trance scene,” he has said of the LP, which opens with progressive tracks such as Solid Stone’s ‘Heart Call’ and ‘Middle Ground’ by Farius before building up to harder tunes including ‘Neba’ by Gouryella and Ben Nicky’s remix of Gareth Emery and Ben Gold’s ‘Until We Meet Again’. It’s a diverse comp that celebrates the current scene, although we’re not sure he needed to declare that “trance is back”, seeing as it never went away – maybe it’s best to let the music do the talking.

9/10

Matt Nouveau feat Billie Fountain 'Ashamed' (Nocturnal Nouveau)

Matt Nouveau (previously known as Matt Darey) made a significant contribution to the trance scene in the past with huge singles such as ‘Beautiful’, ‘Voice Of An Angel’ and ‘See The Sun’. And even though he’s turned down a deeper route lately with the launch of his new alias, his trance roots are still very much apparent here. Featuring sun-kissed guitar melodies, a dreamy breakdown and emotive lyrics, it’s no wonder A&B premiered it on their Group Therapy radio show.

9/10

Markus Schulz 'Sestertius' (Coldharbour Recordings)

Since it was founded in 2005, Coldharbour Recordings has released tracks by artists including Arnej, Omnia, Ronski Speed, Tritonal and Agnelli & Nelson, but it’s label owner Markus Schulz who’s got
the honour of putting out its 250th release. A monumental track to celebrate an equally momentous occasion, it’s a powerful instrumental anthem that’s shaken festivals across the world, from Ultra Europe in Croatia and Transmission in Australia to Electric Daisy Carnival here in the UK.

8/10

Andromedha 'Stay/Mood Swings' (Freegrant Music)

In his modest four years as a producer, Andromedha has made it onto the playlists of artists such as Markus Schulz, Max Graham and Roger Shah thanks to releases on Infrasonic, Mistique Music, Graygoo and Progressive House Worldwide. His latest
is a two-track EP out on Max Freegrant’s label, and it’s aready got early support from the likes of Myon & Shane54 and Ost & Meyer. Led by twinkling melodies, both tracks work well together: ‘Mood Swings’ is groovier but slightly more repetitive, with ‘Stay’ coming out on top for its dirty bassline. He might say he likes to experiment with different genres, but this EP demonstrates that the Polish artist’s heart lies in progressive.

7/10

Seawayz & Sollito feat Daniel Kandi 'Together Always' (Alive Recordings)

Not content with releases on Anjunabeats and Armada, playing massive events like ASOT, hosting his own radio show and managing his Always Alive label, Daniel Kandi is now trying his hand at singing, too: he’s provided the vocals on trance duo Seawayz & Sollito’s new track. Made up of searching synths, lush melodies and dreamy vocals, it’s an elegant, infectious collab.

8/10

Kriess Guyte 'Illuminated' (Critical State)

Although his first love is trance, UK producer Kriess Guyte’s SoundCloud page is home to an interesting mix of genres, from techno to chill-out to d’n’b. Similarly, his latest track boasts an eclectic mix of sounds, too, featuring deep sub-filled kicks, acid-infused rolling basslines, off-beat tech stabs, a couple of random vocal samples and an epic, euphoric breakdown.

8/10

Solarstone 'Herald' (Black Hole Recordings)

Solarstone fans have been waiting for more details of this track ever since he debuted it at Transmission in Prague more than 18 months ago. Cut from a similar cloth to his earlier anthem ‘Hearts’, ‘Herald’ is melodic and harmonic with calling female vocals, powerfully struck strings and aerodynamic synths. Having said all that, though, it doesn’t really go anywhere – and considering it’s more than eight minutes long, it could have done with being a little shorter.

7/10

Chris Progstone 'Cala Salada' (Entrancing Music)

It may be named after one of Ibiza’s most enticing beaches, but the hypnotic vocals on Chris Progstone’s latest track make it sound like it could have been inspired by some of the beaches in India instead. A progressive trance track, it features groovy basslines, gentle melodies, addictive lead chords and a beautiful breakdown. Remixes come from Russia’s Denis Sender, who turns it into a dancefloor bomb, and Hungarian producer KeyWork, who takes an even more progressive approach.

8/10

The Space Brothers & Mark Sherry 'Let It Come' (Darren Porter remix) (Outburst Records)

Back in January last year, Mark Sherry teamed up with UK trance act The Space Brothers for their ‘Let It Come’ collab. Now it’s been remixed by Tytanium Recordings A&R manager Darren Porter. While the original itself is forceful, Darren Porter’s version is even harder and more frantic. The Space Brothers, who came onto the scene when trance music exploded in the late 90s, may not have made the comeback they were expecting, but at least this is getting another outing.

7/10

Aimoon IV 'Unstoppable' (In Trance We Trust)

Russian artist Aimoon describes himself as an ‘uplifting tech-trance producer’. His latest track, however, finds him moving into psy-trance territory. Following in the footsteps
of his psychedelic mix of Jordan Suckley’s ‘Jet2 Hell’ with Abstract Vision, ‘Unstoppable’ is energetic yet uplifting with big drops and a nice melody. With more than 40 trance releases under his belt, it’s good that he’s doing something different.

7/10