Devout trance fans have dreamed of an Armin van Buuren–MaRLo collaboration and wondered what that would sound like. As predicted, the titans in the genre have finally teamed up and dropped their first track together. It sounds like pure perfection, and it’s called ‘This I Vow.’
The beautiful vocal track, featuring Mila Josef, shows off the mastery of Armin and one of his favorite artists, Dutch/Australian producer MaRLo. On the release day on Friday, Armin wrote on social media: “Excited to share my brand new collaboration with @marlomusic.”
MaRLo teased the upcoming collaboration two weeks ago by posting a photo of himself with Armin on Instagram. He asked followers to drop an OK hand sign emoji if they wanted the collab in 2020.
Sure enough, the collab was a long time coming. The two had studio time back in 2015 and back in January, Armin said he is a “big fan of MaRLo” who is “a good friend and he’s one of the best producers out there at the moment.” Asked if they had worked on a song together, Armin at the time said, “Not yet!”
Fast forward to mid-February, Armin dropped ‘This I Vow’—then an ID—during his A State Of Trance 950 set in Utrecht. He played it right after MaRLo and Feenixpawl’s ‘Lighter Than Air,’ which won 2019 ASOT Tune of the Year. Scroll to around 21:00 for a listen.
‘Lighter Than Air’ Follow?
Indeed, ‘This I Vow’ feels like a follow-up to ‘Lighter Than Air.’ Like ‘Lighter Than Air,’ the new song delivers emotive female vocals with a chilling effect, and an uplifting melody bringing all the feels.
‘This I Vow,’ from Armin’s Armind label, comes a week after he released ‘Leka,’ a collab with Super8 & Tab. Besides IDs from his recent ASOT set, Armin likely had new music planned for Ultra Music Festival which was canceled for this year due to coronavirus. So keep an ear out for more new music from the king of trance.
Seeing this track live again is sure to lift trance fans higher. For now, check out ‘This I Vow’ and MaRLo’s Tech Energy Mix on Spotify below.