Artist: The Steals Vs Grafiti
Title: Sinner
Label: Cyber Records
By: Jason Calvert | 9 February 2009
Tracklist:

• 1. Original Mix
• 2. Pierce Mix
• 3. Pierce Dub

The Steals Vs Grafiti "Sinner"

Martin Smith (better known as Leama) teams up with James Davis to form the Grafiti outfit who have been causing a bit of a stir in the scene lately. Their absolutely massive reworks of Hybrid's "Formula of Fear" made them instant winners in my books, so I was eager to see how "Sinner" turned out when they teamed up with The Steals. The track is released through Cyber Records, an offshoot of Armada Music, which has seen releases from the likes of DJ Nukem, Chab, 16 Bit Lolitas as well as a host of big name trance artists.

The Original Mix is a trancey affair, although admittedly more on the progressive side of the trance scale. It has an almost Gabriel & Dresden-esque feel to it, if that's what does it for you. It builds up slowly but with a lot of focus on a female vocal section. I don't at all mind vocals in a track if they are done well however the lyrics as well as her voice feel slightly generic and almost an afterthought. They do help the track build up in intensity and running at close to twelve minutes long, this certainly helps for when the track explodes around the eight and a half minute mark. It becomes quite a banger of a tune at this stage but I can't help feeling that without the vocals there would have been something much more seductive about the track. With the inclusion of the vocals, it almost feels like a movie that spells out every twist and turn to you, assuming you aren't clever enough to work it out on your own. However due to the nature of the track, there is no doubting that it will have a massive following. If the release included an instrumental version of the original then it would easily have gained an extra point, as the production qualities are very strong and the breakdown is beautifully haunting.

Pierce Treude throws down the remix and dub, which strip the track back a lot. Whilst the vocals are stripped right back so are the elements that made the original such a banger of a tune, so we are left with a composition that feels slightly lacking. It will however widen the appeal of the release to include those with a more house-oriented disposition. Ultimately though, these will stand in the shadows of the original mix.

I would be willing to pay twice the price of the release for an instrumental version of the original and I'm sure I would not be the only one in this predicament. An instrumental would easily take the commercial edge off the tune and I'm sure would greatly widen its audience. But don't let this turn you off what is otherwise quite a fantastic little track. Be sure to give this one a chance and form your own opinion of it if this is the style of track you are into.