2013 seems to be the year that seasoned veteran Simon Patterson will completely dominate the Trance scene. His fascinating innovations and his deep desire to find only the best in the underground scene has catapulted him above his competition into another league entirely. He has fearlessly pulled away from being trapped in his own style and has instead ventured into what his own tastes may be, from Techno to Tech Trance to his pure passion of Psy Trance and even Breaks. Evidence of this mass influx of influences have already been apparent in many of his releases, from his remixes to his own single, Thump and Neelix‘s single, Leave Me Alone; to his collaborations with Jordan Suckley with Vanilla and his upcoming collaboration with Blazer with Contraband. What is clearly evident is that Simon isn’t going to play by the rules that many producers are compelled to follow. Instead, he is burning into uncharted territory and as a result, being championed by many factions of die hard fans, which is a clear recipe for success.
After his heavily Psy influenced remixes to Thump and Leave Me Alone, many fans were eager to finally hear an Original production to see what would happen if Simon (or ‘Psymon‘) were to have full control over every aspect of a piece. Finally, after many months of painful waiting, he played his new single, The One, as his closing track during the Den Bosh leg of the ASOT 600 Expedition Tour. It is interesting to see Simon on the softer Armind label to begin with, as his latest releases have been on more rebellious labels such as Perfecto Fluoro and Reset. However, with the release of the radically risky Bang! collaboration between Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Jerome Isma-Ae, it is clear that Armin van Buuren intends to spearhead that label into bolder, no nonsense releases than ever before. Additionally, this isn’t the first time that Patterson has worked with Lucy Pullin, as her vocals have been included in his softer, more melodic Keep Quiet release in 2011. However, The One is not for the faint of heart, as the 2013 Psy sound of Patterson will furiously stomp listeners into submission with its detailed complexity and balls-to-the-wall basslines. 
http://youtu.be/dI171RSLFfQ
The shining attribute about this piece is that it is a musical journey, transitioning from cool Psy Trance to Pure Uplifting to a meshed conglomeration between Psy and Tech Trance. The One starts out with a minimal bassline that almost has a stupid amount of infectious groove towards it, and is one of the best basslines I have heard all year, hands down. It also features crisp, Techno influenced percussion, vocal timbres, tech bells, acidic lines and everything in between while still keeping that intense, almost brutal simplicity towards the overall feel of the track (favorite timbre is the ‘Go!‘ sound). The transition into the breakdown is seamless as he showcases the massive talent as an Uplifting producer with the vocal assistance from Lucy Pullin. A beautiful soundscape of luscious chords, divine vocals and anthematic melodic stabs is then transitioned wonderfully into the techier side of things. As ‘The One‘ is repeated, vocal timbres and flitting acidic line intertwine between increasing drums, accelerating synths and billowing white noise effects. Finally, Simon slams the petal into 5th gear by thrashing our faces with an assaulting combination of devouring basslines and soul crushing woodblock synths. By adding devastating Breaks snares, winding white noise and perfect tech blips, he invents a monster of a track that just decimates wherever heard.
A track that blisters through the confines of genre into the murky beyond, The One should be praised as a track that showcases the true might of Simon Patterson and also sets the bar into what quality in a track should be. And the bar has been set very high. Simon Patterson‘s newest single, The One, is out now on Armind on Beatport, so head on over to pick up this truly fantastic piece today.
Keep the music alive. -Q
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/release/the-one/1103255
