Quickly emerging as a key component of the New Wave of aspiring Trance producers, Los Angeles native Johnny Yono has been smashing the charts lately with his unique infusion of Electro, Trance and Trouse. Interestingly enough, his career began with acting in the Southern Californian scene, but the influences of Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk and John Digweed quickly shifted his focus towards Trance production. Since then, he has been a core component for Enhanced Recordings and has gained the support of both Armin and Above & Beyond, as well as other key artists such as Markus Schulz, Daniel Kandi, Protoculture and Andy Moor. While his older Trance sounds are of exceptional quality, he’s been slowly gravitating towards Electro with tracks such as his remix to Taj & Mitka‘s Mind Of My Own and his collaboration with Mike Danis on Blast. However, he has surprised both myself and many others with his driving Trance release of Exodus that was constantly hammered throughout the end of 2013. Yono now intends to use that success as a stepping stone to deliver his next big track on Lange Recordings entitled Open Your Mind. With beautifully powerful melodies and a sound design that can’t be beat, Yono proclaims a dominant statement of pride that proves he’s a force to be reckoned with in 2014.
There’s a very interesting correlation with this particular piece and its relation to Lange Recordings. As you may or may not have known, Lange is widely considered as a Trance technician heavyweight, (which is an artist who is able to incorporate stunningly complex timbres within their pieces), and his sound designs rival those of Giuseppe Ottaviani and Thomas Datt. Just like his release of Exodus, (which was also released on Lange Recordings), Open Your Mind contains a smooth, confident edge of connectivity that hasn’t been present in his previous releases. Regardless, this single marvelously showcases Yono‘s abilities in top form with some of the cleanest technical melodies that I’ve heard in a long while. It starts off strong and fast with an electrifying bassline that kickstarts the drive into high gear, along with some neat blippy percussion, sugary ostinatos and a particularly punchy percussion section. The breakdown is where he gleefully flexes his arrangement muscles with a combination of luscious piano chords, fluffy pads, and iconic vocal samples that state, “we live in a special kind of space… The world of sound in the world of vision.” With a build up that includes angelic female vocals, cascading melodic leads and voluminous sound control, Yono finally unleashes his might with a powerful, yet graceful drop that focuses on the beauty of musical textures to carry its melody. The chord progression from I to vi is particularly juicy and its heartfelt emotional drive gushes with quality and attention to detail.
Johnny Yono‘s brand new single, Open Your Mind, is out now on Lange Recordings, so make sure you snag this lovely little number today.
Keep the music alive. -Q
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/release/open-your-mind/1233207
