Another season of debauched Balearic delights on the White Island is drawing to a close. All of the biggest and best Ibiza clubs threw their famous closing parties in October, and the superstar DJs are hopping on their private jets to fly home again. Whether you’re talking EDM superstars like Martin Garrix, house heavyweights like Solomun, or the techno underground that represents at the legendary DC10.
Whatever your dancefloor preference, there’s always the favourites that stand out at the end of the season. The kind of anthems that get dropped to a massive crowd response, time and time again.
What were the tracks that defined this year’s Ibiza season? Let’s take a look.
CamelPhat & Elderbrook ‘Cola’
‘Cola’ was one of the early Ibiza winners that made its mark early in the season. After being picked up by tastemakers like Danny Howard BBC Radio 1, it wasn’t long until it was ruling the clubs. It saw UK duo CamelPhat diverting from their typical rolling tech house stormers to draft in guest vocalist Elderbrook.
The resulting anthem was a bona-fide smash that held #1 on Beatport charts for an entire month.
It's pretty clear how much of a winner 'Cola' was when you look at how curious clubbers were when it was spun. The tune was Shazammed more than any other this year. It’s not hard to understand why, either. While it’s steeped in driving dancefloor appeal, it’s the excellent vocals from Elderbrook that lift it into sing-along territory. ‘Cola’ is what happens when a vocal anthem meets the techno underground.
Disciples ‘On My Mind’
Another favourite this season that had sing-along appeal in spades, ‘On My Mind’ proved as much of a hit on the radio as it did in the clubs. It’s the creation of UK trio the Disciples, who work together on making beats as well as singing the choruses. The three have been making music together for a decade already, and already enjoyed huge success partnering with Calvin Harris on ‘How Deep Is Your Love’.
The sound of ‘On My Mind’ is the lushest of house, with wonderfully soulful vocals and a chorus to die for. It’s is the kind of catchy, crowdpleasing crossover vocal record that doesn’t come along too often.
Age Of Love ‘The Age Of Love (Solomun Renaissance Remix)’
A curious trend in house and techno recently has been the scene’s DJs discovering a new love of classic trance. It’s led to a deluge of trance classics invading the techno clubs, and it was only a matter of time before the eternal ‘Age of Love’ received an update. Who better to tackle the challenge than Solomun?
Predictably, his remix of ‘Age of Love’ was one of the smashes of the season. Solomun has shown he knows how to fashion a high-impact remix, though he equally knows when to leave well enough alone. Here it’s a case of, “if it aint broke, don’t fix it,” with the seductive charm of the original left largely intact.
James Hype ‘More Than Friends’
One of the real crowd-pleasers of the year on the EDM side of things, ‘More Than Friends’ proved a favourite for pop-friendly heavyweights like David Guetta who rule the roost at the Ushuaa poolside. Taking its cues from the 90s classic ‘Don’t Let Go (Love)’, James Hype reworks the original’s instrumentals into a fast-paced concoction that’s ready for the CO2 cannons. Vocalist Kelli-Leigh puts her own spin on the vocals, helping transform it into an anthem for 2017.
Patrice Bumel ‘Glutes’
Amsterdam favourite Patrice Bumel made his debut on Afterlife Records this summer, the label run by Tale of Us, and Italian duo who also front the residency of the same name at Privilege Ibiza. ‘Glutes’ is the perfect representation of Bumel’s emotional approach to underground club music. Opening on a wonky low-swung bassline, it builds into an unashamedly trancey extravaganza. As expected, Tale of Us exploited its charms to full effect throughout the Ibiza summer, and many more beside.
