Dutch trance DJ has a thought or two on the human condition…
[Video][Website]
[4.67]
Patrick St. Michel: Phones, man.
[4]
Alfred Soto: Oh look — excitement. The synths are going up! GANGNAM STYLE
[1]
David Turner: *throws hands up in the air* *begins fist pumping* *rips off my American Apparel tee* *never looks back*
[8]
Will Adams: “Alone” knows when to be ridiculous and when to take things seriously. Lauren Evans hams it up in the verses — hear how she clenches the ‘n’ sound when screaming the title — but it’s only appropriate given the lyrics: “The human element has long been missing/Tell me, have you seen it?” It’s all fun and games until the drop, which fills every inch of space to the point of distortion, and it’s pummeling, but the suspended piano line above the fray lifts the noise beyond mere club thump. This is where trance veers from house; all the excess is there, but its ears are pointed toward the sky, searching for an answer, a reason, a human element, anything.
[9]
Megan Harrington: I wish the beat were a little less hammered, but despite its rave-y accoutrements, “Alone” is kissing cousins with all of Erasure’s best hits and that’s an undeniable synthpop force. I realize there’s some irony in lighting your double entendre ode to alien life and basic human companionship with the dim glow of the gassed-out drop, but this is purpose-driven music, and if even a handful of body glitter and black light marker covered humans embrace in the spirit “Alone” suggests, then we all win.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: Corporate new-age EDM still sucks.
[0]
Brad Shoup: Evans has got more of a synth tone than the synths, and unlike the synths, she can break through the generic programming. I’d be better inclined toward this nonsense if she hadn’t battled it so capably.
[5]
Anthony Easton: When I was a kid, I went to West Edmonton Mall. They had a wavepool there. The waves would come every five minutes or so. If you were really brave, you would go to the deep end and wait to be enveloped. There would be lifeguards, sirens, and other safety systems. You would feel like you could be drowned, but there was very little risk of drowning. You wanted to be brave and safe. Consider this a metaphor.
[3]
Rebecca A. Gowns: This hits all the same marks as Zedd’s “Clarity”! Even the little “bonk bonk” before the beat drops! “Are we…alone?!” Lauren Evans belts, but Armin mixes it down and compresses her voice flat against the baby beats. We’re left with a hushed belt, a snoozy synth melody, and a rhythm that bangs away with marshmallow mallets. The stadium sounds are still there, but the stadium essence is gone. What remains is sort of a lullaby for last call. “Is anyone left in this whole world?” Yes. They’re all outside. They’re sleeping. And you’re drunk. And also nearly asleep. Someone get this baby into a cab.
[5]