‘Pure Trance XI’ Mixed by Solartsone & Orkidea

At their core, Pure Trance albums has always had an ethos – something seeded in them from the very start. However, that culture Rich felt was: “achievable, but not yet fully achieved”. Specifically, it’s that of creating the albums the Global Underground way or by following the Northern Exposure trail. A commitment to compiling and mixing so detailed, so thought through and so experience-led, that it enshrines the 20/20 club experience as close to 1:1 as is humanly possible.

So, to finally make that flesh, he returned the series to the drawing board.

The first (and in all likelihood most significant) hurdle was getting its essence as-live-as-live gets. To that, a heaving February Saturday at London’s Fabric supplied it a trancefixing backdrop. There, every in-the-moment blend, fader glide, filter release and EQ twist, and every reciprocal crowd whistle and cheer as XI was laid down was caught in the wild.

To achieve that elevates to the highest level the planning and coordination a DJ + team must undertake. Or as is the case here, DJs, plural. XI marks the first time that Pure Trance has recalled one of its former co-mixers. Closing the circle between this release and the very first Pure Trance is producer/DJ/composer Orkidea. On their very first meeting, he and Solarstone bonded over a shared love of ‘mixed-live’ compilations, so when it came time for Pure Trance to take that route, the co-mixer selection pretty much made itself.

One aspect that’s not changed with the onset of XI is the stylistic makeup of its sonics. Music from the new, the established and the establishment abounds, along with exclusive 2026 monsters-in-the-making and underground weapons aplenty. Judicious bring-backs for a smattering of imaginatively selected classics are also onboard, along with an absolute wealth of new Solarstone and Orkidea material.

“Most of the tracks on Global Underground, Northern Exposure, Renaissance and the like had already been released by the time the albums came out. People fell in love with them through the compilations. It’s when you present tracks in a mix that they’re heard differently”. Solarstone picks up “In fact, they often don’t sound as good without the other elements of another record on top. It’s one of the aspects we paid most attention to on ‘PTXI’; there are some truly memorable ‘one plus one equals three moments’ on there!” – Orkidea

Weighing in at an unbroken 4+ hours digitally (*also available in triple disc and triple vinyl editions), Pure Trance‘s trip is an odyssey in everything but name. XI’s opening tranche is where many of its more underground artists and records are couched. That said there’s still early deck-service paid to Tiësto’s rework of Delerium’s Innocente and Glenn Morrison’s take on TasteXperience’s Frustration! Obie Fernandez’s Naked and Foreplay from Obie Dick (no relation on either count) gives off a distinct later-night progressive vibe. All smoked-out synths, low-riding bass and slow-fuse tension. ‘Broken Soul’ from Novacode and VADM’s Space meanwhile stiffen the mix-stance by degrees, carving a tougher groove into XI’s foothills.

Pure Trance XI bids a majestic farewell to its first hour with Solarstone & Orkidea’s (just released) Slowmotion VII and Jamie Baggotts’ remix of Mr Sam vs Fred Baker’s achingly beautiful Forever Waiting. From there the mix departs the cooler hinterlands, subtly pivoting from the progressive-trance backfoot to a more trance-progressive front.

No coincidence then that this is where you’ll find the most concentrated seams of new Solarstone, Orkidea and close associates’ material. Cherry-picked from last year’s innermost album, dream sequence slipstreams into the more technotic throb of Super-Frog Saves Tokyo’s Clarion. Solarstone’s ‘Zero Hours’ and Allende’s studio-fresh remix of Rich & Tapio’s original Slowmotion generates more of that flow, before Orkidea x’s with Sophie Moleta and Lowland on the beautifully suspended ‘Fall Into Love’.

As Pure Trance XI passes its 2hr mix-marker, it again subtly adjusts its angle of attack, heralding classic sonics from Matt Darey’s Tekara (‘Breathe in You’) and Matti Laamanen’s mesmeric Flakes. Haunt Me, the most recent pairing between Rich & Susie Ledge, gives it a vocally-driven and emotionally charged element, while Solarstone’s Energy Field adds more kinetic and propulsive aspects. That sharpens the mix’s forward momentum for a final time, allowing Bryan Kearney firestorm-like spin on Orkidea’s ‘Beautiful to deliver it a truly epic finale.

In electrifying form XI launches the next phase in ‘Pure Trance’s fantastically storied, fifteen year history. It’s released on June 12 and is available for presave: here.