On this week’s Sunrise Sessions, we look inland towards the United States as fresh, young talent continues to show us how emerging, grassroots Trance movements are the future of Progressive Trance. In many articles in the past, we have noted here on Sunrise Sessions how Prog Trance has slowly crept towards the underground of Trance due to the overwhelming amount of producers who were either producing or copying the style a few years back. However, every genre in music has a circular motion within its lifespan, and when a genre slowly moves towards the shadows of the public, new and exciting possibilities start to surface to revitalize its mighty fortitude once more. This week, we are headed to the west coast to the wonderful state of California, where Trance has slowly seeped into the lives of a very close knit community of producers that include Emerge and Kerry Leva. As noted by Armin van Buuren himself stating that, “he has a very bright future ahead of him“, Los Angeles resident Danny Chen is quickly making a name for himself with his beautiful blend of Progressive and Progressive Trance with a slew of fantastic singles and remixes. Chen has been a close disciple of Ruben De Ronde for the last two years and has been prominently featured on his radio show, The Sound Of Holland and on his personal label, Statement Music. After the release of his recent remix to Ruben‘s single, Pure, off of his recent remix album, From Sao Paolo To Sofia, he remains on remix duties for an absolutely spellbinding reinterpretation of Sollito‘s debut single, Javelin.
As stated before, the reason we are loving this particular remix is due to the amazing combination of sounds and textures from both camps of Progressive and Progressive Trance. This particular remix is neither Prog nor Prog Trance, but rather, somewhere in between, and Chen gingerly borrows elements from the two to release an unusually sleek and shimmering sound that is loaded with raw creativity and soft, flowing melodies. While the Original focuses more on power and grit, this mix focuses more on finesse and grace, and while it may not hit as hard as the original, the orchestration feels more fleshed out as a whole while the interconnecting parts seem to organically flow within one another to create a streaming, one directional flow of action that compliments the stellar arrangement and decadent timbral choices. What really shines throughout the piece is the extra added details that spreads the icing on the cake, as wistful vocals, innocent toy pianos, cascading strings and bubbly, rising ostinatos all work in tandem to create an almost fantasy like soundscape that focuses on the purity of nature and its inhabitants. Additionally, his mainline synths bleed into each other with technical might and the overall construction of the piece is solid to the point of rigidity and order. However, this isn’t to say that Javelin is merely a mechanically made cut and paste remix altogether, as its free floating melodies and harmonious sound designs all inhibit a certain livelihood that makes the timbres seem more than just sounds on a computer screen. It makes them seem alive and celebratory with a spark in their eyes, and the overall complexion and character of this piece rivals those that have been in the scene for much longer than this bright young lad.
Danny Chen‘s remix to Sollito‘s Javelin is out now on Elliptical Sun Melodies via Beatport, so go purchase this track and support real talent! Make sure to also check out the incredible Original Mix of Javelin as well, as it was a very, very close contender to also be featured on Sunrise Sessions!
Keep the music alive. -Q
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/release/javelin/1422542
