Well … something’s different …. It’s not the name and it’s certainly not ‘In Search of Sunrise’s to-the-core musical nature! DJs? Well, it’s an ever-evolving cast, so that’s a given. Ah, but of course … it’s the date! Sunrise is a three-six-five affair and while the esteemed series has done summers a-plenty and once dipped its toe into autumn, this is the first modern era ‘ISOS’ that’s sought a winter’s dawn.
Launched by Tiësto in 1999 and subsequently helmed by Richard Durand and most recently Markus Schulz, the series is now within touching distance of its milestone twentieth. Its third phase has been defined by a pronounced dynamic between its DJs. In Markus Schulz, you have your lynchpin, and then in close support genre progressives like Jerome Isma-Ae, Kryder, Gabriel & Dresden & last year Matt Fax, and classists including Kyau & Albert, Sunlounger, Andy Moor & Orkidea.
‘Sunrise’s dynamic is completed in 2023 by arch-Anjuna-ist Ilan Bluestone, and Daniel Wanrooy – a man who’s recording career reaches almost as far back as ‘ISOS’ itself. Alongside Markus, they’ve picked up the mix-mantle and auditioned tunes by the hundred, all the while asking themselves but one question: ‘… is it Sunrise?’
As ever, that quest starts in their own backyards, with the three bringing much radiance from their respective studios. There’s been a fair degree of crate digging too, looking for inspirational deeper-cut tracks to melodically and harmonically remix into ‘Sunrise’s realm. The trio have also screened the latest from kindred studio spirits, all of which has been peerlessly mixed into three-hours and forty minutes of epic, atmospheric, day-breaking music.
When it comes to those post-peak clubbing hours, Markus Schulz has proved to be a masterful sun-up soundtracker. His sixth Search features plenty of his own Coldharbour brew, including ‘Rabbit Hole’ Circus material like the x Sarah Warren ‘Light On’ and (in its new In Search of Sunrise Remix form), the HALIENE-voiced ‘Death Of A Star.’ There’s also first-listen Schulz material receiving their premieres, including the majestic likes of ‘Summer Of ‘99’, ‘Forgotten Element’ and (new Daxson link-up) ‘Reverence’. Around those are a veritable wealth of new sonic treasure from operators including Matt Fax, KhoMha, Estiva & Mike EFEX.
Anjuna-to-the-max, it’ll surprise few to learn that Ilan Bluestone’s disc is ripe with produce from that particular quarter. Amongst those are Sunny Lax’s ‘Cerasus’, Boom Jinx, Nitrous Oxide & Einar K team-up ‘Breathing’ and the Elysian trio’s ‘Light Years’ and ‘Sparks In The Night’. Ilan’s also been in the ISOS remix swing, delivering treatments of Above & Beyond’s ‘Diving Out Of Love’ & ‘Northern Soul’, as well as Chicane’s ‘Saltwater. You’ll also find his recent collabs with Oliver Smith (‘Blue Eagle’) and Giuseppe Ottaviani (‘Futuro’). And speaking of A&B, their ‘Spin Off’ from ‘Tranquillity Base Vol.1’ also plays a key part to his mix, as does Maor Levi’s reworking of Tiësto’s In My Memory’.
And if all that doesn’t leave you feeling those first rays on your face, Daniel Wanrooy’s disc is here to make absolutely certain of it! He intros with his floor-fresh JES team-up, ‘We’ll Be Together’, before channelling even more of that ISOS vibe with his x BLR collab ‘Cielo’, and solo tracks ‘Terra Incognito’ and ‘How Will I Know’. Further in are the latest from some other classic ‘Sunrise’ contributors, with Mark Norman, Jonas Steur and Cor Fijneman respectively supplying it ‘So it Begins’, ‘Solis’ and ‘In Domo’. At the crest off Disc 3, Daniel touches the sun with some killer remixes of Kamaya Painters ‘Far From Over’ and ‘Falling Back To You’ from Delerium.
Has ‘Sunrise 19’s moodier art-aesthetic and winter release spot brought an even cooler collection to your door!? Well, that’ll require a Search of your own!
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