W&W & Martin Jensen ft. Linnea Schossow – Greece 2021

89%%Overall Score

• Festival re-work of a classic
• Brassy leads of Future Rave with soaring atmosphere
• Different from the usual “W&W” Big Room

In the past several weeks, I saw developments announced from the Swedish singer-songwriter, Linnea Schossow. She hinted at an unexpected festival music heading this summer by mentioned the two international heavyweights; label-heads W&W and Danish mainstream electronic act, Martin Jensen. I wondered if these were the same IDs from NWYR or perhaps the intro that took place in the Club Mythic live-stream some time ago.

After she shared the artwork online, my guess was proven correct. It was indeed the Greece 2021, a rework done by the said names of the original prototype hit that was released back in ‘97. The single was produced by Dutch electronic duo of the time, Three Drives. Becoming a classic overtime that laid down the standards of Progressive Trance (and Techno), it placed itself on number one in UK Dance charts. It wasn’t until this year that we get to see a modernized spin, whose contents include 90s Trance and Techno with Future Rave of a drop to complement. The artists surely took their time to make certain that the newer generation of Rave music listeners will equally appreciate, as the first time witnesses of the evergreen original did at the time.

Let’s talk a little about the version that made all of this possible in the first place. “Greece 2000” extends over eight minutes, inspired heavily by turn of the millennium underground electronic scene. This wasn’t your typical banging and peachy Euro House track, rather an elevating experience of sentimentalism. As one of the adjectives used most to describe, this was truly progressive. In the later and recent years, Brazilian producer Vintage Culture (a Deep House oriented adaptation) and Israeli DJ WHITENO1SE (which got played in ASOT podcast), among others, gave their own twist to this gem.

Now about the festival mix we are discussing. W&W received the opportunity adeptly in hindsight of creating anthemic for this year, teaming up with Martin and brining forth Linnea’s blissful and soaring vocals which can arrest the audience’s attention. There was a rumour afloat about this being a MORTEN and the Rave Culture owning pair, which was later clarified anyways. Brassy and cutting super-saw leads familiar to the newer style plays out the iconic melodic hook, which later dominate in the drop section. A simpler low-end, probably consisting of toms and a sub-bass supports the rest, not as interfering as say a signature W&W kick would usually do. A vibrant mix-mash of the peak-time Trance with contemporary Future Rave does a brilliant job in my opinion, making it enough influential to seize dance-floors!

Nevertheless, as a fan who awaited this one, the result that is “Greece 2021” meets the expectations more than amply. Willem and Wardt should definitely consider pursuing this sort of satisfying experimentations more!