Among the undisputed protagonists of trance’s pure renaissance, the Dutch quintet SUPERSTRINGS arrive on Armada Music with their latest release, embarking on a journey of rediscovery towards a new shade of the genre
The search for lost roots and influences that once seemed to have faded away has become one of the main challenges for many trance producers this year: an intense, ongoing movement, but above all one driven by a deep passion.
Today, SUPERSTRINGS stand among the most important artists shaping this phase, although their journey carries characteristics that are profoundly different from those of many other protagonists of this new wave.
Born from a deep admiration for the artists who built the history of the genre, their purpose throughout this short but intense period has never lost its character. Their productions have always been closely tied to a pure, nostalgic and deeply emotional sound, as demonstrated by their latest tribute remix of Solarstone’s Solarcoaster, not to mention their collaborations with some of the scene’s true ‘titans’ over the past two years.
Their defining quality, however, has perhaps emerged most clearly behind the decks: refined DJ sets and carefully curated selections, shaped by an in-depth and meticulous knowledge of trance, have led them to share the stage with some of the movement’s historic figures. Their performances alongside Johan Gielen and Ruben de Ronde have represented another significant step towards an already fully established dimension.
Today, the rediscovery of trance music remains one of the most complex chapters to interpret, within a vast movement encompassing countless styles, eras and nuances, all rooted in the musical heritage built between the second half of the ’90s and the early 2000s.
With Balearic Temptation, however, the five guys from Nijmegen choose a different direction, almost the opposite of the traditional old-school approach: a path they themselves describe as being consistent with the eurotrance influences of that era.
And that is exactly what it feels like. The track unfolds at an extremely fast pace, with an electronically processed vocal guiding the structure before giving way to a break built around long, atmospheric synths, eventually leading into an energetic explosion that recalls the progression between dance and trance that was so characteristic of the European scene of the past.
It is a musical context that devoted fans will immediately recognise, bringing back memories of a very specific chapter in trance culture: a rediscovered identity, and a genre that, throughout the 2000s, had taken over European clubs through a style that never needed to be categorised,only experienced and danced to.
Balearic Temptation will be released this Friday on Armada Music. And, at least in our imagination, we can already picture it sitting inside one of those Eurotrance compilations from twenty years ago.