Armin van Buuren is set to transform Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 2002 classic ‘By The Way’ into a trance track, with his reimagining, ‘Take Me Home’, arriving this week via Armada Music.
Scheduled for release on 25 September, ‘Take Me Home’ takes the instantly recognisable melodic identity of the Red Hot Chili Peppers track and places it inside a full trance production. The release will include both a standard version and an extended mix. Rather than functioning as a straightforward cover, the new track reworks the original song with completely rewritten lyrics while retaining elements of its familiar melody. Van Buuren described the process as a surreal experience, given the status of ‘By The Way’ as one of the American rock band’s best-known tracks.
Originally released in 2002 as the title track and lead single from the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ eighth studio album, ‘By The Way’ was produced by Rick Rubin and written by Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith. The track reached the top of Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart and has remained a defining song in the band’s catalogue. 
‘Take Me Home’ arrives during a particularly nostalgic period in van Buuren’s output. The Dutch trance veteran has recently explored reworks of classic material, including a new version of Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’ with Silver Panda, while also joining Pete Tong and Poppy Baskcomb for a new interpretation of Fragma’s ‘Toca’s Miracle’.
