In the midst of rumours (yet to be substantiated of course) that Cosmic Gate will once again be gracing us with their presence later in the year, it seemed like an appropriate time to have a squiz at their new album. Sign of the Times is their fourth artist album release, and three years after their successful Earth Mover, I was interested to see what the duo of Nic Chagall and Stefan Bossems had thrown up.

From the outset, I began to sense that this is not one for the fans of the harder styles of trance. At all. For the proponents of the gentler, uplifting and progressive varieties of trance though, lock yourself in. It kicks off with a soothing start, before we broke into a driving bassline, then added some softly spoken, and yes, uplifting vocals. Opponents of the airy-fairy trance will say this is exactly what can often be wrong with vocal trance. Proponents will on the contrary say that this is exactly what’s so good about it. Regardless of your stance, this flows through both Open Your Heart and London Rain and Flatline: the recipe the same, but the ingredients perhaps thrown together and baked a different way, the latter, sounding just a touch like a Deadmau5 track. It’s one of the highlights of the album, although not necessarily for that reason.

The lads weren’t necessarily taking me on a journey, but I was nevertheless enjoying the experience. The title track Sign of the Times represents a darker, even dirtier edge from the lads, and as one of the few tracks without vocals, it is your quintessential driving banging trance track. Nice. Together with F.A.V. and the cleverishly constructed Arctic Sunset, it is a subtle shift away from the uplifting stuff in exchange for something that’s a bit chunkier. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

They are the exceptions though. On the whole, the album is laced with vocals, and to an extent, it can perhaps sound a touch ‘same’. That said, for those that like that style, this will be music to their ears, literally. Worthy of individual accolade however, is the first single from the album Not Enough Time. With vocals from Emma Hewitt, previously known for her work with Chris Lake on Carry Me Away, her voice works just as well, if not even better, here. In fact, for me, this is the epitome of what I like about trance. Wherever you may be, sitting in your car in traffic or instead chilling with friends at home, it can make all your worries seem a million miles away. It may be “airy fairy” to some, but to those that like it, they love it. Look out for the Sied Van Riel mix of his tune too – it is something else – and you can expect either version to be dropped in many a trance set for the next little while, and with good reason.

All up, it’s a solid offering from the German lads, without necessarily being totally mind blowing. Running at a nice and handy 70 mins, while it could have perhaps gone a bit further and got a touch more adventurous in some spots, it is never flat, and on the whole is a very easy listen to enjoy.