Out today is the highly anticipated collaboration from visionary producer and composer Aaron Hibell and Melodic Afro innovator Alex Wann, entitled ‘set me free.‘ Released via Astralwerks, the collaboration highlights the unique talents of both artists, merging Hibell’s cinematic, emotive production style with Wann’s signature deep percussive rhythms, creating a powerful, melodic track that is both captivating and forward-thinking.
Here’s what Aaron Hibell had to say about the creation of the new track: “My manager sent me the isolated vocal one day that he’d dug out from an old playlist of songs and I initially started a harder trance version. It was okay but it was missing the feeling which I strive for. He suggested I try it in a slightly different style and I made a slower more melodic version, and it was night and day. We instantly knew this was the type of song we wanted on the album but hadn’t yet made. I had become close with Alex Wann after he remixed my song ‘ghost’ and it turned out this was the perfect song for us to collaborate on. He added his grooves and sounds and brought it into another world. When we started playing it live we realized the power of the record“.
Alex Wann continues to reflect on the single: “This release is one I have been really excited about for some time now. Myself and Aaron made this back in January and since we started playing it out we’ve been getting a crazy amount of attention on the release. It’s not something either of us saw coming as we are both from such different worlds musically“.
“Maybe that’s what people are finding exciting, a cross-over from the Afro-House and Trance scene. I’ve been using this track to close all my sets this summer so I am excited to get it out into the world.”
-Alex Wann
The Build-Up To ‘set me free’
This release not only marks an exciting collaboration between two promising talents, but also serves as one of the official soundtracks for this year’s Ultra Music Festival Aftermovie, a fitting placement for a track of this magnitude. Aaron Hibell hit a massive career milestone and scored the entire aftermovie for the iconic festival where he included more released and unreleased tracks to come. You can watch the full Ultra Music Festival Aftermovie below.
Several artists have already been playing ‘set me free’ within their sets, including RÜFÜS DU SOL and Adriatique. This collaboration with Alex Wann further solidifies Aaron Hibell’s status as an artist to watch in the scene, blending the duo’s deep understanding of emotion and melody into a track that stands apart in today’s electronic landscape. Stay tuned for more music and updates from both artists as they individually continue to shape the sound of the future.