John O’Callaghan – Unfold
Pin ItJohn O’ Callaghan – a big name with big expectations has released a new album and here is my view on it.
‘Unfold‘ is a much awaited album by a lot of trance lovers and of course myself. John is a very talented producer. He can produce tracks that simply touch your soul. And at the same time he can also create stunning party anthems that rock nightclubs for weeks. We always remember what "Big Sky" has done to our parties and at the same time "Never Fade Away" has been a favourite morning song for most of us.
I was really curious and excited to hear ‘Unfold‘ and when the promo copy arrived I was really pumped up. Add to that the beautiful spring outside, I took my headphones immediately in the dark and calm of the night and started listening and writing my thoughts, wondering if spring is the perfect season for this album? Yes it definitely is!
The album starts off with the sweet voice of Betsie Larkin in "Save This Moment", she’s having a tremendous year and this track proves that she has a stunning voice, very unique too! It touches you with a calm, beautiful feeling. We then move on to "Talk To Me" by Timmy and Tommy, such a wonderful track, beautiful uplifting sounds, dreamy voice, brings a smile immediately. The smile gets longer when you hear "Perfection" by Cathy Burto, the perfect summer track.
While we get that pretty "happy, lazy feeling" by these tracks, we enjoy the vocals, sing along, and get into the right mood, the next few tracks take you directly to the club. Massive beats that will make you pump your fist and have your hands in the air. "Smokescreen" is proper proof of this. Cruel beats, simple trebled melody mixed with occasional vocal chops; yes this track will definitely have your head shaking audaciously.
We move on… and we find ourselves in a state of pleasure, which is brought by "Stargazer", John collaborated with Thomas Bronzwaer on this, and I must say, this is one fine collab! It truly makes you feel like you’re dancing under the stars. Great beat, perfectly trebled sample plus a stunningly uplifting melody. Reminds me of Paul van Dyk’s older tracks, even brings back memories of "For An Angel" a bit.
For me, say the star of the album is Betsie Larkin, her second track "Impossible To Live Without You", such a dazzling love lost track, makes you wanna pick up your mobile and send a cute text to your loved one.
John is really counting on giant beats in this album. "Centurion" – this track is a bit weak and lacks melody and structure, yet, the beat is heavy for the right ears. Nothing special or beautiful, I haven’t heard something like this in a while; this definitely deserves to be remixed. Another weak track "Bring Back The Sun" featuring Audrey Gallagher, released in a chillout mix. Non-beat track, with high vocal, just makes you lose your party fever. This track could have been avoided in my opinion… The album ends with "Rhea", needless to say it is one the best morning tracks, the chillout mix is a bit hooo hummm…
Anyway, at the end of my review, I can say, that this album is seriously built mainly on beat architecture. It starts of as a perfect summer album but slowly fades away into dark progressive sounds. I guess a small reorder of the tracks will do wonders. Of course the melodies are good, and the vocals are sweet, but the beat just lifts you up from the ground. John proves that he can be a serious tech-trance butcher and an awesome summer anthem producer at the same time.
I would seriously love to hear John O’Callaghan LIVE, because I know that I would be leaving that gig in a wheel-chair by the end of his set. :]
For more info related to John O’Callaghan check out the following links:
www.johnocallaghan.net
www.twitter.com/jocofficial
www.facebook.com/johnocallaghanofficial
www.myspace.com/johnocallaghan
www.youtube.com/johnocallaghan
Reviewed by: Zdenda Břečka
