As one of the world’s leading Progressive Trance producers, the underdog story of EDU has gradually evolved from his beginnings as a humble, bedroom producer to today as a full time, influential master of the genre, and his incredibly rich and detailed productions have expertly detailed each and every step of his lifelong journey. Back in the day, he used to rub shoulders with legendary artists such as The Blizzard & Omnia, I-Vision and Dimension, and his first breakout hits included his single of Mayday on Enhanced Recordings and his collaboration with Cramp on Silver Sand on Anjunabeats. Since his modest beginnings, EDU has lately been at the forefront of Prog Trance innovations with his stellar collaborations with Macarize owner Kristoffer Ljungberg on Around The Sun and Outbreak, and his established residency on Monster Pure include singles such as For The Heart, (which was the opening single on Monster Pure), and Give You Everything, which features the lovely vocals of Molly Bancroft. However, he isn’t strictly pigeon holed as a Progressive Trance producer per se, as he has been known to dabble into the realm of Progressive from time to time. Recently, he has been utilizing special ‘Progressive Mixes’ for some of his tracks and the first track to receive this treatment is his stellar single of Action Hero. Now, he continues through this exciting train of thought with his next great single on Macarize entitled Be Cool, where its paired down melodies and serene, placid landscapes promises a relaxful experience to wind down after a long, tiring day.
After listening to the track, one can deduce that Be Cool is chiefly inspired by the classic Progressive formula with a bit of a kick to its highly detailed orchestration. That isn’t to say that it is a hybrid of Progressive Trance and Prog, but rather; EDU has managed to locate and manipulate that minuscule grey area of power to expand its sound without fully entering the realm of genre blurring elements. As with any classic Prog formula, it leads off with off beat Prog chords that gradually get larger and more pronounced over time before pulling back into its original state for an ebb and flow kind of feel, much like the continuous crashing of ocean waves upon a sun drenched beach. One aspect of the track that we are clearly loving is the fantastic chord progressions that flow throughout the track, as the multiversed progressions exude an air of orthodoxy and cutting edge sound design. The percussions are nicely low key throughout the entire track and the lone, reverbed woodblock does wonders to set up the immersive atmosphere of the entire track as a whole. Within the breakdown, he smartly introduces a counter melody that playfully intertwines with the main Progressive line and the interesting chord play that occurs seems to subtly demand attention from the listener. The second release is where we see the magic of EDU blossom before our eyes, as heavy elements such as gritty basslines and euphoric melodic leads counterbalance against the fragile Prog lines and wonderful piano interludes to expand the reach of the track to its absolute limits.
EDU‘s brand new single, Be Cool, will be out tomorrow on Macarize via Beatport, so make sure you purchase a copy and support real talent!
Keep the music alive. -Q
On Sunrise Sessions, we find tracks that best exemplifies the chilled, low energy vibes of early Sundays to start your day off on the right foot. We want to show you what many are missing and help you discover an entire ecosystem of music that’s waiting to be explored. Not to be held down by genres, we look into music in a variety of styles, including Progressive, Deep House, Ambient and even tracks that aren’t a part of EDM! Every week, we unfold a wide variety of artists ranging from established, well known names to producers who purely reside in the underground.
