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LABEL: Coldharbour Recordings RELEASE DATE: April 6, 2015 GENRE: Trance
// review by SoyBomb

'Twas my destiny to hear this.

Those with their noses to the grindstone in the current trance scene should probably be familiar with Markus Schulz. Dropping tunes since 2005 under his own name, in addition to his alias Dakota and his partnering up with the legendary Ferry Corsten to form New World Punx, he's a rather prolific non-stop musician and DJ. I first came into contact with his work back in 2010 with his "Dark Heart Waiting" single, and he's been on my radar ever since with his unique melodic style. In 2015, he released "Destiny", and once I heard it for the first time, I was immediately enthralled.

Not to be confused with another track entitled "Destino" from his 2014 album, "Scream 2", Destiny comes in just one flavour: a 10 minute long Original Mix, and that's all you're really going to need. Building up with gentle ominous plucks and space-driven pads, we're treated to the breathy and desperation-locked vocals of Delacey, a Los Angeles-based songwriter and vocalist, over a simple but elegant chord sequence. Part of the chorus particularly resonates: "So if we just can't get it right, then maybe we will try in another life." Having trundled over a rough patch myself around the same time, the lyrics seemed to have been tailored to a situation like mine. Delacey doesn't belt it out like a modern Whitney Houston or oversteamed Ariana Grande latte; instead, there's emotion and a certain sparkle of reality to her voice. The focus on Delacey's lyrics is in the first half of the song, while the second half is relegated more for Markus' multi-layered trance extravaganza, and let me just say this: it's almost symphonic and it's gorgeous. He throws a mild second melody overtop at this point that doesn't overshadow the padded original but instead adds a much-desired complement. This is the music of staring into the orange sky as the sun sets on the beach, or the music that accompanies the feeling of a warm embrace on a cold winter's night. Though introduced and concluded with a standard club beat, this is not a standard club song.

If all of his work was like this, Markus Schulz would be in my playlist constantly. The delicate efforts taken in this single have not gone unnoticed. Clocking in at a little over ten minutes, his very simple concerto of melodies surprisingly doesn't feel stuffy or padded; it's actually a reasonable amount of time to spend examining his work. It's been a long time since I've given a perfect score to anything, but when a track's this good, you have to give it the credit it deserves.


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