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A Song Across Wires is the ninth studio album by composer and electronica artist BT, released on August 16, 2013. This album features more vocal tracks and a plethora of guest artists as part of his alternate instrumental and vocal album productions. The album consists of 12 songs and was released in both digital and physical copies. On the album, BT collaborates with singers and producers of his previous album, These Hopeful Machines, such as Christian Burns and JES, as well as new ones, such as Arty, Nadia Ali, Aqualung, tyDi and more.
As the follow up to his Grammy-nominated ‘These Hopeful Machines’, expectations are bound to be high for BT’s ninth album. But considering he’s composed film scores for The Fast And The Furious and the Oscar-winning Monster, produced for Sting, Bowie and Madonna and worked with Tori Amos, it’s no surprise that he lives up to them. An innovative mix of trance, electro and progressive, with a just a touch of dubstep (which shouldn’t annoy the purists too much), ‘A Song Across Wires’ does just what he intended it to do: embrace dance’s new mainstream popularity. From ‘Letting Go’ to ‘Lifeline’ it’s a steady stream of uplifting tracks and emotive vocals – but that’s not to say it’s in any way predictable.
If you don’t know BT by his name or his face, you definitely know him from the music and artists he’s worked with over his 20-year career. Helping to build the house movement from scratch in America, taking it to Europe, and now bringing it back home again, the Maryland-born artist is not only musically talented, but works at his unique craft like the engineer that he is. On August 17th the unbelievably accomplished artist releases his first artist album in 3 years on his label Binary Acoustics entitled A Song Across Wires, and it’s sure been a long time coming.
In the past the man behind the initials, Brian Transeau, has taken long breaks between producing albums. And it seems that in these breaks is where his artistic inspiration flourishes, as he’s really able to experiment, explore and cultivate the inspiration and vision for his next venture as BT. For instance, before the release of his career retrospective, 10 Years in the Life in 2002, he had spent producing tracks like the iconic “Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” for Britney Spears. And this time he’s returned from a phase experimenting in ambient music within a 3-year break since his last (and Grammy-nominated work) These Hopeful Machines.
Like any great album, A Song Across Wires is told like a story of real life, that ebbs and flows like any live show that mimics the real life of a modern day person. Having a background in both engineering and thorough musical training at the Berklee College of Music, A Song Across Wires, like most of BT’s work includes an album title with latent meaning out for interpretation by the listener. Inspired by a line from the poem, “I Wrote This for You” the album is both a retrospective on BT’s career and a venture onto new musical journeys that he’s taking. The titles of his artist albums have an overall comment on the way machinism affects our lives but still help to keep us connected, even if the technology is actually all that exists between us. But as the first track on the album, “Skylarking” proves to us: in the end, it’s the music and the emotion from it which keeps us human.
Throughout A Song Across Wires, we hear BT’s exploration through different genres: and it’s light dubstep in his partnership with vocalist JES on “Letting Go.” Pairing dub that is lighthearted somehow is shocking when paired with JES’s emotive vocals, and is an instant reminder to the listener that yes, you’re listening to an album. Pay attention.
He also dabbles in trance, which is in no way an experimentation for BT. He’s got his style down to a science here, one that’s beautiful, unpredictable but also assuringly cohesive. Tracks like “Tomahawk” with bass and chillstep king Adam K are a symphonic movement in themselves, and connect with emotive vocal work like that on both of his tracks with Australian trance artist tyDi.
CD pressing
- Skylarking – 8:45
- Letting Go (with Fractal & JES) – 5:41
- Tomahawk (with Adam K) – 7:17
- City Life (with Bada, Au5 & Fractal) – 6:09
- Stem the Tides (with tyDi & Tania Zygar) – 6:51
- Tonight (with tyDi & JES) – 7:13
- Love Divine (with Stefan Dabruck & Christian Burns) – 4:45
- Surrounded (with Aqualung) – 4:58
- Vervoeren – 6:05
- Calling Your Name (with Tritonal & Emma Hewitt) – 6:07
- Must Be the Love (with Arty & Nadia Ali) – 7:15
- Lifeline (feat. Dragon, Jontron & Senadee) – 8:08
Companies, etc.
- Copyright © – Armada Music B.V.
- Mastered At – The Lodge, New York
- Mixed At – Halo
- Mixed At – Hotbox Studios
- Mixed At – Tritonia
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Armada Music B.V.
- Recorded At – Halo
- Recorded At – Hotbox Studios
- Recorded At – Tritonia
Credits
- Arranged By – Brian Transeau (tracks: 6, 9)
- Art Direction, Design – Gavin Taylor
- Creative Director – BT, Gavin Taylor
- Mastered By – Emily Lazar
- Mixed By – BT (tracks: 1 to 9, 11, 12), Tritonal (tracks: 10)
- Photography By – Myriam Santos
- Technician [Vocal Comping] – Mike Dimattia (tracks: 2, 4 to 8, 11, 12)
- Written-By, Producer – Brian Transeau
Notes
Released: August 16, 2013
All songs recorded and mixed at ((Halo)) except “Calling Your Name” (at Tritonia) and “Tomahawk” (at Hotbox Studios)
Genre: Trance, progressive house, dubstep, electronic dance music
Length: 79:14
Label – Armada Music
Record-facts... 