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Trance Review: Armin van Buuren and D.O.D Bridge Trance and U.K. House Gap With Debut Collab: ‘By Now’ (Feat. Laura Welsh) on Armada Music

 


Both at the top of their game in their respective electronic dance music endeavors, trance icon Armin van Buuren and U.K. house heavyweight D.O.D just dropped their first-ever linkup: ‘By Now’ featuring Laura Welsh. Born from a mutual admiration for each other’s artistic output and a shared desire to explore each other’s sound, this collaboration sees two worlds collide to substantiate the strengths and global appeal of both genres. 

Combining Armin van Buuren’s unmistakable trance melodies, D.O.D’s signature house drums and Laura Welsh’s soft-spoken, emotionally charged vocals, ‘By Now’ bears all the hallmarks of a current-sounding U.K. house track with a modern trance twist, coming off the back of a great start to 2024 for both artists. D.O.D’s summer 2023 UK Top 20 hit ‘So Much In Love’ was recently awarded BRIT Certified Gold status, and his forthcoming tour will see him appear at Parklife in Manchester and 528 in Ibiza for BBC Radio 1 Dance: Ibiza, plus many more. Meanwhile, Armin van Buuren is still riding high with ‘Breathe In’, his ninth studio album, and recent single ‘What Took You So Long’ (with Gryffin), both of which saw him go back to his musical roots. ‘By Now’ serves as the perfect continuation of a series of impressive career peaks for both artists so far this year.

On the inspiration for the collab, Armin van Buuren said, “I’ve been feeling the pull of the U.K. house sound for a while now and have such admiration for it; it’s similar to the sound that influenced and inspired me back in the day. I love the music Dan (D.O.D) has been putting out over the years — ‘So Much In Love’ is a banger of a track, which I even got to remix — and am beyond excited to have been able to collaborate with him on ‘By Now’. It shows there are no boundaries when it comes to genres. Super excited that this one is out today!”

“I’ve been testing trance ideas in the studio a lot lately…that sound is huge over in the U.K. at the moment. And who better to consult on a trance track than the legend that is Armin van Buuren,” added D.O.D. “But I didn’t ever think a collab would be on the cards! So proud of how this turned out, it’s always a pleasure to work with such talented songwriters like Laura Welsh whose vocal really makes the track. I’m buzzing to see how our fans will react to the blend of genres.”

Discover HERE: ➡️ https://avbdodlw.lnk.to/ByNowYA

Dimitri Kechagias review:
[review top="1"]
[item value="10"]Armin van Buuren and D.O.D - By Now [/item]
[content title="Summary" label="Overall Score"]Armin van Buuren and D.O.D finnaly collaborate for the nostalgic sounding balearic trance anthem By Now. The track comes in its original form that is driving pulsating basslines, house drums, chunky grooves, thumping kicks, massive epic synths and super catchy and exciting to singalong vocals by Laura Welsh. If you find this version too mainstream friendly there is an excellent club mix to make you go out of your head targeting the mainstage trance followers with additional unstoppable levels of energy and even larger synths to let the inhibitions go and jump around. Powerful to the maximum with great vocals by super talented Laura the result is a wonderful record to keep satisfied the followers of both artists. It is a pleasant surprise as it manages to balance the underground and mainstream elements for an epic outcome. #PureGold Love IT[/content]
[item value="10"]Beat and Rhythm[/item]
[item value="10"]Basslines and Groove[/item]
[item value="10"] Melody [/item]
[item value="10"] Synths [/item]
[item value="10"]Breakdown[/item]
[item value="10"]Climax / Drop / Crescendo / Pay off moment[/item]
[item value="10"]Intensity, Drive and Energy[/item]
[item value="10"]Sound-design and Arrangement[/item]
[item value="10"]Overall Atmosphere[/item]
[item value="10"]Goosebumps / Shivers moments[/item]
[item value="10"]Emotional affinity and heartfelt moments[/item]
[item value="10"]Originality and Inventiveness[/item]
[item value="10"]Radio Friendly[/item]
[item value="10"]Vocals & lyrics[/item]
[item value="10"]You can’t get this memorable track out of your head[/item]
[item value="10"]It has potential to become an anthem or a classic[/item]
[/review]


About Armin van Buuren

Armin van Buuren has long been a global ambassador for electronic music. He currently has nine full-length artist albums to his name — ‘Breathe In’ included — and continues to cultivate a massive worldwide following through his weekly A State of Trance radio show, event series and album series, reaching 40 million listeners from eighty different countries on a weekly basis. Armin van Buuren headlines tens to hundreds of shows per year at leading festivals and venues around the world, including Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, New York), Ultra Music Festival (Miami), Lollapalooza (Chicago) and Tomorrowland (Belgium) plus residencies on Ibiza and in Las Vegas. Past summer alone, he reconnected with fans through over thirty shows, including the ‘Feel Again’ shows in the Ziggo Dome, Ultra Europe, Tomorrowland, Parookaville, Creamfields, Electric Zoo and his summer residencies at Hï Ibiza and Ushuaïa.


About D.O.D

D.O.D (Dan O’Donnell) has well and truly found the sweet spot between fun and fame after starting off his DJ career playing in local bars and clubs in his hometown of Bury in Manchester. He chalked up multiple #1s on Beatport and gathered well over a hundred million plays across the most popular streaming portals. Although much of his success on the live front happened overseas with spots at gargantuan festivals such as Tomorrowland, Ultra and Creamfields, he also cultivates a commendable list of UK events, clubs and festivals he’s played at, including Ministry of Sound, Cream and Warehouse Project.

About Armada Music

Armada Music is the biggest independent dance music label in the world. Founded by Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron (CEO) and David Lewis, the label manages an ever-growing catalog of over 40,000 tracks, built up across twenty-plus years of specialized dance music exploitation.

Representing artists such as Armin van Buuren, ARTY, D.O.D, Eelke Kleijn, Jan Blomqvist, Loud Luxury, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Tensnake, THEMBA and Yulia Niko, Armada Music amasses more than one billion streams per month, airplay on leading radio outlets such as BBC Radio 1 and Sirius XM, and top positions in the world’s most notable charts. The label also takes great pride in major achievements such as Armin van Buuren’s GRAMMY nomination for ‘This Is What It Feels Like’, Loud Luxury and Brando’s ‘Body’ surpassing one billion streams on Spotify and breaking artists such as Lost Frequencies into global stardom.

Across offices in Amsterdam (HQ), New York, London and Laren (NL), Armada Music offers a truly global appeal to its growing roster. The label has its own club, radio studio and multiple production studios, and hosts various live formats. Producer platform Armada University, which offers educational products and opportunities, shows the label’s sustained effort to nurture the next wave of talent.

In 2023, Armada Music launched BEAT Music Fund, the world’s first dance music investment company, that acquires catalogs with the mission of honoring, representing and reinvigorating them. BEAT’s portfolio will continue to grow; in the first six months following its launch, BEAT acquired the catalogs of, among others, electronic music star ARTY, house and techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson’s KMS Records, legendary NYC-based house label King Street Sounds and chart-topping producers Chocolate Puma.

Additional info:
www.djdod.com/