In the world of Trance music Paul van Dyk is a legend. In a career spanning over two decades he has sold more than three million albums, has been voted the world’s #1 DJ and has remixed everyone from Madonna to Depeche Mode. One of the many reasons why he has excelled for so long is his ability to evolve and adapt as a producer. One his latest full length album “Evolution” PVD explores this idea by producing a range of different sounds and vibes within the Trance umbrella. Each track on the 15 song album features a different vocalist, emphasizing each of their unique vocal qualities.
While most songs on the album including “Symmetries ft. Austin Leeds”, “I Don’t Deserve You ft. Plumb”, “If You Want My Love ft. Caligola” and “The Ocean ft. Arty” delve into the deep vocal trance PVD is best known for, he does utilize heavier progressive bass lines than we’ve heard from him before on a few of them. “Eternity ft. Adam Young” moves things into the emo realm with a trance twist, “Verano” explores the dutch house phenomenon, “The Sun After Heartbreak ft. Sue McLaren” has a downtempo breakbeat feel to it and “Dae Yor ft. Ummet Ozcan” pushes up the tempo to psy-trance speeds. “All The Way ft. Tyler Michaud”, “We Come Together ft. Sue McLaren” and “Heart Stops Beating ft. Sarah Howells” have a slightly electro house vibe to them and “Everywhere ft. Fieldwork” adds a little wompy bass into the mix. For me the only stand out track on the album that has a truly “evolved” feel to it is “Rock This”, a Deadmau5 style heavy hitter with epic PVD breakdowns.
Overall it is commendable that PVD is exploring the idea of evolution, but it seems that he is mostly content in developing the firmly established trance production style rather than branching out into some of the heavier styles that are popular today. Still, we give him credit for staying true to his nature while exploring some cool new sounds. You can hear the album in the player below and pre order “Evolution” directly from PVD’s website here. Also be sure to watch out for him at a city near you when he embarks on his world tour this summer. Long live trance music!
Paul van Dyk – Evolution by paulvandykofficial
