Two trance institutions in one credit line. Paul Oakenfold basically helped invent the modern superstar DJ template, and Markus Schulz has been holding the global club night sound together for twenty-plus years, so a collab on “Not Over Yet” reads like a summit meeting. The Grace vocal is the giveaway about where this is aimed, pulling from that classic late-90s trance vocal lineage that still gives goosebumps to anyone who was there. It’s nostalgic without feeling like a tribute band. The production is widescreen and polished, the kind of mix that sounds enormous on a festival rig and still works on car speakers. I’ll admit I’m a soft touch for this exact strain of emotional, hands-in-the-air trance, so consider this a biased recommendation. What I appreciate is that neither veteran phones it in. There’s real craft in how the energy ebbs and surges. The title doubles as a thesis: these guys aren’t done, and based on this, they shouldn’t be. Put it on loud and let the nostalgia do its thing.
January
Chrome Daydream
Chrome stars, jelly hearts and holographic colour. A nod to the glossy, optimistic graphics of the early web.