Hailing from Scotland and Italy, Alex Sonata & TheRio have rapidly ascended in the global trance and progressive scene since their debut release in 2018. Since then, they’ve released a string of progressive, euphoric club-oriented tracks on respected labels Anjunabeats, Armada, and Garuda, with their collaboration with Elevven ‘Hanalei’, reaching #4 in the Beatport Top 100 Trance chart.
Garnering praise from trance DJ royalty like Above & Beyond, Armin Van Buuren, Gareth Emery, Cosmic Gate, and more, they’ve performed at a litany of events, including Creamfields and the Anjunabeats Group Therapy Weekender in London last year.
Their latest release, out 29th September, was Tears Of The Kingdom, a collaboration with Giuseppe Ottaviani and featuring Tishmal. Inspired by The Legend of Zelda, the record is a kaleidoscope of their unique sounds, combining Giuseppe’s melodic prowess, Alex Sonata & TheRio’s distinctive groove and Tishmal’s ethereal vocals.
We spoke to the Italo-Scottish duo to find out what their current top 10 tracks are! These weekend ready weapons are the perfect start to your Friday plans!
10) Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan – Silence (Kryder Remix)
Usually, Chris (Kryder) keeps us updated with his demos; every time we see one of his Dropbox links, we are immediately excited to listen. We don’t think he’s ever sent us something we couldn’t play, but this one, in particular, pushed us to put it on the pen drive after the first listen to try it out.
9) Spencer Brown & Qrion – 20ms
Spencer is the only producer capable of hypnotizing his listeners and creating endless loops in his tracks without ever getting tired. For us, this is one of the best progressive pieces released this year. We hope to one day meet Spencer in person.
8) Amy Wiles & Leena Punks – Sweet Feeling
Pure proof that Amy is the future of classy-female trance music worldwide. With Leena, they managed to find a compromise between breakbeat and captivating vocals, all wrapped in a 2000s trance sound that drove us crazy (maybe we should ask for the stems for a remix here too?).
7) Andrew Bayer x Gabriel & Dresden feat. Sub Teal – Other Eye
Andrew, for us, is one of the best producers out there, but let’s not underestimate Gabriel & Dresden. They also always experiment and remain quite crossover. This track is the perfect fusion of their minds, the result is a completely unexpected and energetic drop preceded by an unprecedented breakdown.
6) Dusky – Heaven
This is a pure masterpiece of crossover between old trance music and the breakbeat that characterizes Dusky. An excellent piece of work.
5) Sunbeam – Outside World (Bart Skils & Weska Remix)
When we first heard this remix, we were quite skeptical. We didn’t immediately understand it upon first listen, but after trying it out in our sets, it soon became a staple track for us.
4) P.O.S – Coming Home
We will never forget the moment when Paavo played ‘Coming Home’ in Miami. Everyone was smiling, and this track immediately transmitted positive vibes to everyone in the crowd, including us. In fact, we asked him for the stems for a remix (oops… spoiler).
3) Above & Beyond – Angry JP8
When Above & Beyond sent us the promos, we were really excited to hear the new IDs on Tranquility Base. None of the tracks disappoint, but when we heard this track, our heads went to another planet.
2) Alex Sonata & TheRio – Mantra
One of our biggest tracks to date! Everytime we play this, we always enjoy seeing the reaction from the crowd. It’s a track that we’ll keep in our sets for a long time!
1) Giuseppe Ottaviani x Alex Sonata & TheRio feat. Tishmal – Tears Of The Kingdom
An ID that was in both Giuseppe’s sets and our own for quite some time. It was an honour for us to collaborate with him on this one, and we’re all delighted to finally see it have its full release!
To purchase Tears Of The Kingdom – head here!
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