Holland’s Richard Durand is no newcomer to trance fans across the world. With a back catalogue of massive remixes of tracks like Flight 643 by Tiesto and his notorious reworking of the trance classic Madagascar, his pounding tech-trance beats have destroyed many a dancefloor. Here though, after years of teasing, we finally have his debut album, Always the Sun.

And on the whole, it is not a bad first up offering at all. Thank you very much. From the outset, you can tell this is going somewhere. And with a chocker-block 80 minutes ahead of you, you are gently caressed into it, with the velvet smoothness of Divine leading into the already popular and title-track Always the Sun. It has long been said that but for a few exceptions, male vocals aren’t as successful in trance tunes; here: it works perfectly, with German born Simon Binkenborn (try saying that quickly) doing a bang up job. Cheesy sure, but when you’re singing about “searching for some light to guide you back”, well, ya know. With lyrics like that, you can hardly make strawberry jam out of pig shit. Sounds good though, and he keeps the techy side of trance front and centre, Papillon very easy on the ears and with Into Something , for me the standout of the album, he is clearly onto something: this track has absolute monster written all over it.

Mouseville brings us what seems like part two of the album, with a notable shift to the harder driving trance that his Trance Energy sets in March were littered with. Then, just as you think a pattern is developing, he confirms it with The Trigger which just explodes in a fit of off the wall, melt your face, banging trance orgy. Yes please. Can we have more Mr Durand? Totally. He keeps the banging shit going through to the end… but then.. curiously.. drops in an ‘unplugged’ version of No Way Home. Seriously, I’m talking like Eric Clapton unplugged. It may sound nice, but as the finale to a trance album, hmmm… maybe not so much.

That being said, I’ll let that last track slide, because the rest of the album is a treat. Trance fans have been waiting a while for Durand’s debut, and he delivers in absolute style. If you’ve liked his remixes over the years, enjoyed his sets, then this is definitely one to add to your collection.