New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Emily Tan Media) ATB is a meticulous man. Erudite and articulate in his musical vision, ATB is a DJ, producer and songwriter who knows what he wants. It's this deliberate, refined approach to the art of creating music that has allowed ATB (real name, André Tanneberger) to remain at the top of the global electronic dance music (EDM) industry for more than 20 years. On January 24th, ATB releases his ninth studio album, Contact (Kontor Records), three years since his last album, Distant Earth (Kontor Records). The first single from Contact is "
Face To Face" featuring Stanfour. Proper songwriting is a skill essential to ATB's creative process and perhaps one that is lacking in the bulk of today's commercially available EDM. Emotionally rich songwriting - coupled with state-of-the-art studio production - propels "
Face To Face" into the current consciousness and allows the song a place of its own.
Contact will be a two-disc release comprising 26 completely new original productions by ATB, including the original Album Version of "Face To Face." The Rudee Remix will be available on the limited deluxe edition. As a single, the Album Version of "
Face To Face" is out now via iTunes pre-order; the ATB Anthem Version, Junkx Remix and Rudee Remix of "
Face To Face" will be available for two weeks exclusively on Beatport beginning February 3rd.
The Album Version doubles as the
Radio Edit and Stanfour's irresistibly catchy male vocal hits immediately from the outset of the track. (There's practically no intro.) The buildup to the chorus is spine-tingling, and goosebumps are guaranteed the moment ATB's sophisticated percussive pattern enters. Here is the intelligent pop tune that's sure to be a U.S. radio hit. It is by far one of the best produced songs in all of electronic music in the past year. Bet on the radio-friendly Album Version appearing on television within months and every person who hears it to be dancing within seconds. Here's evidence that great songwriting in a skilled producer's hands gives way to the high-quality music not heard since dance music's late-1990's heyday.
ATB's Anthem Version is, as the name suggests, built for the nightclubs. With a very hard-hitting 4/4 beat on the intro, this version builds the percussion gradually until the vocal enters a full minute into the song. This lush, cinematic remix embodies the rapturous, hands-in-the-air abandon experienced by young music-lovers flocking to all the summer EDM festivals. The chorus positively soars. Borne aloft on sonic wings of rapture, the listener is carried away by this muscular, powerfully charged anthem. With this song, none will ever doubt ATB's prowess in making bodies move.
The Junkx Remix starts out with a syncopated, tribal beat and loads of progressive-house horns. This version screams big room peak-time, and Junkx builds the excitement expertly. An unexpectedly wispy, dreamlike interlude goes ethereal when the percussion completely drops out, allowing the prettiness of the song to shine. This version uses a longer path to the climactic chorus before the song erupts into a thrilling, old-school breakdown.
The Rudee Remix has a funky, groovy bassline on the intro that distinguishes it from the other versions. Check the harmonic synths strumming insistently in the background as the song builds to the vocal. This remix extracts all the beauty of ATB's song and distills it into a potent audio concoction.
Said ATB, "It's really important for me to get close to my crowd and engage with the audience directly. It's an exchange of emotions and energy. They feel what I feel; I feel what they feel. They are an integral element of what I do."
