INSTEP Magzine

DJ Tiesto's latest album, Elements of Life is doing very well in Pakistan. It's a genre that is slowly and gradually finding its way in the local music scene. Instep takes a look at the elements of Tiesto By Sehrish Khan

DJ Tiesto's style of producing music is ever evolving; in his new album Elements of Life Tiesto has mixed rock, trance, electronica and vocals in an experimental fashion, bringing about some of the best music today. This is his third album that he's produced so far other than Nyana and Just Be.

The first track 'Ten seconds before sunrise' slowly uplifts the mood, relaxes the senses and generally sucks the listener into the music without the person even realizing it. The second track 'Everything', features the vocals of Jes Brieden, the same voice that was behind amazing tracks like 'As The Rush Comes', 'Like a Waterfall' and 'People Will Go.' The track is breezy and definitely has some similarity to the music in In Search of Sunrise 4, plus later on the listener can hear similar beats used from BT's 'Dreaming' club lucid remix. The third track 'Do You Feel Me' features the vocals of Julie Thompson and has a housey-electro feel. Then Carp Noctrum starts with a beaty piece of music, evolving into trancey dance tunes – having the workings of a dance number.

The beginning to 'Driving to Heavens' is no great shake, but around the second minute of the song it becomes likeable and soothing. You can feel in the music that the name of the track goes with it. The next track is my favourite; it's danceable and starts relatively differently than all the other dance tracks DJ Tiesto has produced. 'Sweet Things' features the vocals of Charlotte Martin and has all the right ingredients to be the next Tiesto commercial hit (along with a few other tracks on the album).

'Bright Morningstar' starts slow and gradually builds up with the tempo. The build up is more electronic and adds the right flavour to the trancey beat. The track shows how Tiesto has played around and experimented with tunes and mixed them to an absolute perfection – it's a beautiful number. Another super cool track is 'Break My Fall' featuring BT. It's simply a pleasure to listen to it. The build up and tempo is racey compared to the other tracks but the track has my vote for being one of the best on the album.

However, when reviewing the album, 'In The Dark' was not all that amazing; featuring vocals of Christian Burns, it has a bit of the rock element to the trancey music. 'Dance for Life' features vocals from Maxi Jazz (Faithless). Love the beat, the music behind the vocals is amazing but the vocals don't mix well with the track, the dark electronic tunes Tiestos used in the track are hot, a far cry from 'Traffic' or 'Love Comes Again.'

'Elements of Life' – the title track of the album is just sweet! One of the best on the album, just exquisite – be it the mixing or the way it's produced – everything about it is just perfect! DJ Tiesto's remix of 'He's a Pirate' is the last track on the album and it's a fast paced number with the best of what Tiesto has to offer the dance world. With lots of different beats and crazy jumpy dance music, it's a fun track – the kind you play in a rave where people go wild dancing to the beat.

Tiesto is experimenting with a diverse mix of sounds and progressing as a DJ by coming up with innovative, fantastic mixes. Even if you're not a lover of the trance / dance / electronic genre, 'Elements of Life' is music which you can play in the car while cruising. It'll just sooth your mind and put you in a good mood.

I only wish the album had been a continuous set, as all his other albums have been. Also, it's refreshing to see the rise in the radio culture in Pakistan has led people to accept and respect trance/electronic/dance music as a separate genre away from the drudgery of pop, rock or hip hop. Mushrooming of local DJs and youngsters wanting to get into producing and mixing shows promising signs for the birth of a fledgling industry in Pakistan.