Music
Haslam & Mearns - Collaborations EP - Out Monday!
By Mostwantedkat
May 17, 2007 - 12:34:45 PM

The year continues to get bigger and better for UK tech-trance sensation Lee Haslam. Just weeks after his residency at clubbing super brand Slinky was announced, he returns to the production tip with a truly monstrous smash hit.

Haslam & Mearns, The Collaborations EP sees Lee team up with regular production partner Guy Mearns. The resulting tracks are nothing short of blazing hot. ‘Synthessential’ and ‘Zippa’ have already gained massive support from the likes of Eddie Halliwell, Judge Jules, Christopher Lawrence, Bart Claessen, John Askew, Krzysztof Chochlow, Mark Sherry, Riley & Durrant, Paul Kershaw, Remo-Con, Graham Gold and Big Al.

Lead track ‘Synthessential’ is a sublime cross between euphoric trance and downright dirty tech-house. Starting off with a driving groove that punches its way through into the listener’s consciousness, it then lifts off into a simple, beautifully classic ‘hands-in-the-air’ breakdown, sending the most delicious shivers right the way down your spine. Just as you get to that sublime point where your eyes are closed and you’re practically at one with the dance floor, Haslam and Mearns tip it up on its head and explode all around you with an utterly filthy synth finale that will have you bursting to get out of your body, it’s that good. No wonder influential trance website www.thetrancearena.com called it their “track of the year so far”!

Flip-side track ‘Zippa’ is a far darker effort, serving up some serious percussion that thunders all over the Joy Energise-esque riff. Basslines are ripped and distorted, bleeps race in and around the central rhythms like high-tech racing cars on speed. Then it’s another one of those melting breakdowns, although this time it couldn’t be more different from ‘Synthessential’ if you tried. Moody, sinister, eerie and like something out of Blade Runner, you can feel something monumental coming out of it – in fact the suspense just oozes out from every single musical pore before an absolutely sick bassline unleashes itself. Again, it’s been getting huge support from practically every single major A-list DJ in tech-trance circuits.

With this being the first half of the Collaborations EP, it remains to be seen what Mr Haslam comes up with in the studio with his next partner, Michael Dow. If they’re anything like ‘Synthessential’ and ‘Zippa’, you should be very, very excited indeed.

Haslam & Mearns, 'The Collaborations EP' is out on general release Monday May 21st. For more information please visit www.digitalremedyrecordings.com