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Trance Review: Armin van Buuren and Alok Team Up With Norma Jean Martine and LAWRENT for “Euphoria” on Armada Music


 

Dance music icon Armin van Buuren, popularly known for songs like “This Is What It Feels Like” and “Blah Blah Blah”, and two-time Latin GRAMMY nominated Brazilian music superstar and philanthropist Alok, popularly known for chart-topping collaborations with John Legend, Ellie Goulding, Ava Max, and Bebe Rexha, have released their collaborative single, "Euphoria", with American singer-songwriter Norma Jean Martine and London-based DJ/producer LAWRENT. "Euphoria" is a high-energy club anthem blending van Buuren, Alok, and LAWRENT’s production with Martine’s soulful vocals and is available now via Armada Music on all streaming platforms here.


The single marks the first time Alok and Armin van Buuren have joined forces since they partnered with Vini Vici in 2018 for the single “United” on Armada Music. “Euphoria” utilizes one of the most iconic classical compositions in Beethoven's “Für Elise” and Norma Jean Martine’s exquisite vocals, which are best recognized from top French duo Ofenbach’s hit songs, “Overdrive” and “Head Shoulder Knees & Toes”. The single follows Alok's hit collaboration with fellow top Brazilian musician Anitta, “Looking For Love”, and Armin van Buuren’s joint release with German singer-songwriter Natalie Gioia, “Viva l’Opera”.
“I had a great time working with Alok again after ‘United’. He really adds something authentic into the mix, as did Norma Jean Martine and LAWRENT. Can’t wait to unleash ‘Euphoria’ into the world.” - Armin van Buuren
“I was able to feel the audience's first impression of 'Euphoria' during Tomorrowland, and now I'm excited to share it with everyone. As an artist, I enjoy creating collaborative works where I can explore new styles and sounds. This one with Armin, Norma Jean, and LAWRENT, is more geared toward dance floors and clubs. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed producing this track” - Alok

Dimitris Kechagias Review:
[review top="1"]
[item value="10"]Armin van Buuren, Norma Jean Martine, LAWRENT - Euphoria (with Alok)[/item]
[content title="Summary" label="Overall Score"]Armin van Buuren continues his illustrious legacy of producing monumental dance singles with his latest collaboration with the Brazilian sensation Alok. Joining forces with Norma Jean Martine on vocals and LAWRENT, the duo has crafted an unparalleled feel-good anthem that seamlessly blends elements of a renowned trance classic from the past with the vibrant energy of modern mainstage trance. The result is a meticulously produced track that exudes an infectious euphoria, captivating audiences and ensuring its widespread appeal on radio and streaming platforms. This composition serves as a powerful catalyst for positivity and euphoria as we embark on the new year. #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:

It takes little to recognize that Armin van Buuren has been one of the world’s biggest DJs and producers in electronic music for over twenty years. His life-long dedication to the scene has earned him a Grammy® nomination for ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ (feat. Trevor Guthrie) and critical acclaim for global hit singles such as ‘Blah Blah Blah’, ‘Great Spirit’ (with Vini Vici), ‘Leave A Little Love’ (with Alesso) and ‘Music Means Love Forever’ (with Steve Aoki). Additionally, he claimed the number one spot in the annual DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll for an unprecedented five times, contributing to the twenty-one consecutive top 5 spots to date (the most recent being a #5 in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll of 2023).

His two-hour radio show, A State of Trance (ASOT), is broadcast weekly from his own radio studio in the Armada Music HQ in Amsterdam to over 44 million listeners in more than 80 countries, as well as online via audio and video live stream on YouTube, Facebook and Twitch. ASOT, which surpassed the milestone number of 1000 episodes in January 2021, has grown from a small radio show into a complete dance music brand with stages and events across the globe.

Armin van Buuren has launched several ‘Armin Only’ world tours throughout the years, including the ones based on his albums (‘Imagine’ in 2008, ‘Mirage’ in 2010, ‘Intense’ in 2013 and ‘Embrace’ in 2016) and ‘The Best Of Armin Only’ in 2017. In June 2022, two years later than originally planned due to the Corona pandemic, Armin van Buuren played his most personal and intimate live shows yet through four sold-out shows in the Ziggo Dome: ‘This Is Me – Feel Again’.

In addition to all of this, Armin van Buuren is the co-founder of Armada Music, the biggest independent dance music label in the world. The Amsterdam-, NYC- and London-based record label, which was founded in tandem with Maykel Piron and David Lewis, is acclaimed internationally for releasing music across the electronic music spectrum, was voted #7 in Mixmag’s “Label Of The Decade” poll in 2017, and is the six-time winner of “Best Global Record Label” at the International Dance Music Awards in Miami, the sixth of which was won in 2018.

As a performer, Armin had headlined countless shows at leading festivals and venues around the world, including Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, New York), Ultra Music Festival (Miami) and Tomorrowland (Belgium) plus residencies at Hï Ibiza, in Las Vegas and numerous others.

On December 16, 2019, Armin van Buuren joined forces with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to motivate millions of people to join the movement and fight against plastic pollution. As a Global Oceans Ambassador, Armin will contribute to the worldwide #BeatPlastic campaign: www.arminvanbuuren.com/beatplastic.

In December 2022, Armin van Buuren launched an exclusive, web3-based community: Armin’s All-Access. Created to strengthen the connection with his fans, the community is accessible upon purchase of a limited-edition community token – a piece of digital art designed by renowned Dutch designer Rik Oostenbroek – and grants many fan-desired perks, including (early) access to various forms of exclusive content (e.g. previews of unreleased music, exclusive DJ sets in audio, exclusive merchandise items), a private, AAA-community-only space within the existing Armin van Buuren Discord channel and direct contact with Armin van Buuren himself.

To date, Armin has seven full-length artist albums to his name: ‘76’ (2003), ‘Shivers’ (2005), ‘Imagine’ (2008), ‘Mirage’ (2010), ‘Intense’ (2013), ‘Embrace’ (2015) and ‘Balance’ (2019).


About Alok:

Alok is a bona fide Latin-GRAMMY nominated dance music superstar and philanthropist holding the title of the second biggest Instagram following of any electronic artist globally, with over 28 million fans. On Spotify, Alok concentrates more than 33 million monthly listeners and 5 billion streams, making him the most listened to Brazilian artist internationally. In 2024, he received his first two Latin GRAMMY Music Award nominations in the new ‘Best Latin Electronic Music Performance’ category for his songs, "Pedju Kunumigwe" with Guarani Nhandewa from his The Future Is Ancestral album, and “Drum Machine” with DJ Pickle. In 2023 he was named the No. 1 DJ in Latin America and 4th Best DJ in the world, according to the prestigious DJ Mag Top 100 DJ Poll. Alok is also the only Brazilian to make the “Billboard Dance 100” and was named in 2022 by Bloomberg Linea as one of 500 people more influential in Latin America.

Performing some 320 yearly shows on five continents, Alok is widely regarded as one of the most influential Brazilian artists of all time and is experiencing his breakout moment in the US. His hit single, “Hear Me Now” has garnered over 755 million streams on Spotify alone. From working with and lending his remix work to artists including The Rolling Stones to Zara Larsson, from Jason Derulo to Tove Lo and more, he won the “Best Remix” award at the 2020 International Dance Music Awards for his hit remix of the Meduza’s single ‘Piece of Your Heart’ (over 223 million streams), also partnering with global pop sensation Dua Lipa for the official remix of her hit single ‘Physical’. In 2021 he collaborated with Grammy award-winning pop sensation John Legend on ‘In My Mind’, also with renegade vocalist John Martin, as well as lending his craft to remix multi-platinum, #1 artist Ed Sheeran. After an already hugely successful start to 2022 and hot off the back of the announcement of his debut Ibiza residency at Hï Ibiza, he brought the smash hit of the summer ‘Deep Down” alongside Ella Eyre, Kenny Dope and Never Dull. The song reached #1 Billboard Dance Chart for 4 weeks in a row.

More recently, Alok joined forces with multi-platinum singer/songwriter Ellie Goulding and British DJ/Producer Sigala for the dance-pop anthem "All By Myself", which brings the timeless sample of Depeche Mode’s "Enjoy The Silence." Alok is also a recognized brand and star, having achieved huge notoriety in the gaming world as a character, with his own name, in the wildly popular game “Free Fire.” Two years ago, he created the Instituto Alok, which manages high-impact philanthropy projects in Brazil and Africa. To date, the institute has donated more than 10 million dollars to social and environmental projects worldwide. As a philanthropist, Alok was part of the revolutionary Global Citizen Live series of worldwide performances alongside names including Billie Eilish, BTS, and Elton John, streaming live from the Amazon RainForest alongside the Guarani indigenous people to support poverty and climate change. In 2022 and 2023 he performed, with Brazilian indigenous artists, on the rooftop of the United Nations Headquarters, in NY, at the opening of Climate Week.


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.

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