1. Pt. I
2. Pt. II
Following up his 2013 TSR release ‘Meltwater’, Simon Templar - one half of Finnish duo Winkee - returns to Touchstone with another two part release. ‘To The Stars’ is trance music of the highest order. ‘Pt. 1’ sets the tone, with rich layers of arpeggiated bass, sweeping pads and a huge cascading synth riff which builds relentlessly throughout the track. Unusually for tracks of this genre, there is no traditional breakdown at all, instead Templar moves the arrangement through twists and turns, locking people in a tight groove on the dancefloor. As if that were not enough, the +10 minute colossus that is ‘Pt. II’ takes things deeper, with crunchy tribal percussion and washes of ethereal FX, crescendos of compressed pads, percussive hits and an understated lead riff. This is serious late-night, powerful, heads-down trance music.
Dimitri Kechagias review: Touchstone recordings brings the finest pure trance tracks from high quality artists from around the world. Simon Templar from Finland is one of those unconventional artists who does not conform to genre norms and conventions. In contrast his music is always challenging and very fresh sounding. His tracks are very appealing to those who search for strong arrangement ideas and unique personality flair. To The Stars comes in two very different parts. Pt.1 is a wonderful relentlessly building melodic progressive trancer that builds the various soundlayers in a such involving way that you feel totally lost within the magical soundscape. The track doesn't include breakdown and this requires a lot of energy to keep dancing along. The synthy melodies used are truly hypnotic and recall trance classics from the golden era. What is more Simon music always contains psy trance influences so djs who prefer that trance substyle will adore his track as well. Pt 2. has totally different approach as the track is more dynamic, energetic and in your face. It last for nearly 10 minutes and the arrangement is more conventional with fantastic first sequence with driving energetic punchy basslines, pumping bouncy kick and wide variety of emotional synthy melodies, haunting voices and cinematic strings. The breakdown is mysterious with darker suspenseful themes and distorted spoken vocal samples. The climax is absolutely incredible with rich sound texture packed with classic synthy themes and epic cinematic strings. Both tracks are pure trance productions that represent what trance should be about and that is to be able to hypnotise, mesmerise and put the crowd in a state of trance! #PureGold Love iT
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