The folks at Black Hole Recordings had to realize the In Trance We Trust brand was in desperate need of a shake-up. The genre its namesake was based upon had dwindled in clubber interest and market share. Much of the old guard moved onto more lucrative ventures. New singles continuously failed at enticing a new generation into its scene. All that remained were staunch die-hards, those who truly did trust in trance regardless of popularity. It isn’t as massive a group as those found at massive festivals, but at least they were a dedicated bunch, who'd stick with you through the good times and the bad, provided you didn't deviate from what they felt was a purity of their preferred music. What was the label to do then? Try riding the trendy bandwagons in the hopes of remaining relevant, or start catering specifically to a guaranteed, though smaller, following? Speaking of Menno de Jong's career...!
Okay, ol’ Menno hasn’t taken quite the same path, mostly resisting throwing his lot in with noisy electro anthems and dubstep permutations like many of his brethren did. For a chap who seemed primed for a larger career though, he floundered a bit at the turn of this decade, soon after closing up his Intuition Recordings print. Aw, I actually kinda’ liked that label, his Intuition Sessions mix one of the few CDs that got me tentatively giving trance another chance. While it’s no surprise he’d end up at one of the mega-labels, it’s interesting that he’s releasing singles and now offering a set on In Trance We Trust. Their DJ mixes have mostly gone to up-and-comers and relative unknowns for over a decade now, and surely Mr. de Jong has enough scene clout that he need not slum it with sub-labels.
Then again, hitting the big Two-Oh is something to celebrate for any series, so why not have a prominent name at the helm. And as ol’ Menno’s been one of the genre’s resolute ‘old-school’ supporters, it makes good sense having him provide a throwback euro-trance set. There are breakdowns, girly vocals, and oh God is there supersaws. None of these have any chance of being a hit in this day of EDM, and despite production chops at the bleeding edge of modernity, are all recycling the same standard formulae from euro-trance of old.
Yet, I’m strangely fine with this, even enjoying myself most of the time. The energy is relentless, especially in the latter half when tunes absolutely tear (yeah, that’s John Askew for ya’). Menno even provides a rare vocal tune I unashamedly like (Creatures Of The Night), proving the ol’ Law Of Averages I guess. No matter how overwrought, cliché, or sappy this set goes, MdJ kept pulling me back in, anxious to hear what sort of anthem he’d drop next. It’s like he’s paying homage to that scene’s roots (the fun and the wack), and screw whatever recent developments have gone down. Those are sentiments I can respect.
