• The end of an era?
• Simple, simple and… yes, simple
• Old-fashioned style that works, but doesn’t shine
Life is all about ups and downs. That’s a fact, and it’s even applicable to people who are considered living legends of their discipline. Armin Van Buuren went through one of his sweetest moments ever in these last months, releasing lots of tracks with stunning quality, but, as I said, everything has to reach its end sometime. Is Armin’s particular “Belle Époque” going through its last moments? Well, I’m no one to assert that, but what I can say is that “Mr. Navigator” won’t hit as hard as “Blah Blah Blah” or “Turn It Up” did.
Tempo Giusto joined forces with the trance legend to deliver a track that definitely misses something. The extreme simplicity of the concept can be its strongest point or its Achilles heel depending on the listener personal tastes. In my honest opinion, even if I admit that this works really well on festivals and live shows, both breaks are risky to become monotone and boring. And that’s normal, especially because they just have some claps, the vocal, typical synths and a couple of extra elements to craft the build-up before the second drop.
The drop represents the Old School at its best. Some classic kicks and an off-beat bass take over the rhythmic part of this section, being supported by a classical pluck that just repeats one note following a cool rhythm. I think that at this point it’s interesting to remark the difference between an old-fashioned idea and the adaptation of some old vibes to the new dance music tendencies. Hardwell’s “Retrograde” was in this last group I mentioned. What about “Mr. Navigator”? Well, I don’t think so.
Most of you might be wondering if this is the fall of a giant. Let’s see what happens in the near future, but for now, I will just consider “Mr. Navigator” as a track with a slightly worse level than his average one. ADE is just around the corner, and I’m pretty sure that he will try to surprise us with another hit before that time. Let’s wait for it.
What do you think?
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