Our ReMixer, LANparty writes:

"This song, "Aurora's Theme", is a sort of classic song with pop energy, and I found this track very positive to become an UPLIFTING TRANCE track! So, here you go, my energetic remix of "AURORA'S THEME" from CHILD OF LIGHT!"

Not just trance, not even uplifting trance, folks; but UPLIFTING TRANCE! LANparty delivers his sophomore ReMix, flying solo this time, while drawing on his years of experience of mixing as he continues to delve into VGM arrangement.

I am very delighted to see LANparty give us something in this genre. Back in the days-of-yore on OCR (when anything electronic was called "techno", mainly for the worse), trance music was the bread-and-butter of this site. While OCR has definitely moved on to a far more varied palette of genres and styles that's impressive in its range, there will always be a part of me that returns to the early 2000's and the comfort of my familiar old staples. Listening to this ReMix moved the nostalgia slider up on my mental turntable. I'm finding comparisons here to a lot of FFmusic Dj's older stuff and to the indomitable bLiNd, but especially U-ji's "Pleasantly Dance in the Club" and "Melodic Trance" ReMixes. LANparty has a big box of tricks and he employs them to great effect here, with never a dull moment and never being "samey": each subsequent section draws a smile to my face as something new comes to the fore. Consider me lifted.

But what of the source itself? LANparty explains his choice thanks to a certain shared je ne sais quoi québécois:

"Child of Light is a game made by Ubisoft Montréal. I'm from province of Québec in Canada (where Montréal is) and an artist from here made the music in this beautiful, unique video game. Her artist name is Cœur de pirate (can be translated by "Pirate's Heart") [...] She is a wonderful composer. Usually, she makes pop-like music with a typical "Québécois" essence, a genre unique from the French-Canadians."

Child of Light's Romantic, fairy-tale narrative pairs well with Cœur de pirate's introspective, folk-like style, and the theme of the main character, Aurora, exemplifies this union. It is a simple yet emotive tune that feels like it should have always been there, like it's come out of the hills of a collective European imagination, that is then paired with evolving, heartwrenching accompaniment. I've heard of trance described as "a journey between the agony and the ecstasy", and the upwards motion of the original's chords and its distinctive, short minor melody lend themselves very well to the genre.

LANparty's use of a bright but demure piano is a perfect choice to introduce us to the melody as it leads us into the main drop (it reminds me of Robert Miles's "Children", if you need a well-known comparison), and the bass in the build up is deep and tasty. The rhythmic saw-wave pulsations of the main melody during the "chorus" is classic trance, and the crests and falls of the 7-minute-long foray are handled well. "Seven minutes?!" you might say? Well, trance's magic is a slow burn, and it's never about arriving at the terminus but the thrill of the journey; and believe me, this trip is a delight.

Judgment of this particular piece was portioned by The Three P's: prophetik music, pixelseph and paradiddlesjosh. Peruse their purview:

• proph had a few pressing concerns, but proclaimed, "this is a solid trance track. there's not a ton of ground-breaking arrangement or material here, but the overall shape is good and the instrument choices work well together [...] this is a pretty straightforward vote."
• Seph checked for sameness, stating, "The question I am asking myself, which ultimately reflects my vote, is whether there is enough variation across the runtime given the repetitive nature of the style? The remix pulls directly from the A melody throughout, so source usage isn't an issue; all the builds are the calling card of LANParty, so there's plenty of artist representation too. I think – YES."
• Josh jostled and judged, "The groove is good and the transitions are well-handled. Overall, what's here is transformative enough and well crafted. Nice work, LANparty."

Nice work indeed, to use another old OCR trope. I'm sure that there are folks out there who would still dare criticize this as "yet another piece of techno" after all these years, but one of my many OCR-shaped hills in the range I will die on is the fact that a lot of OCR's roots are planted in the fertile soil of EDM genres. LANparty's tools may be fresh, but here we have been schooled, old-school. This ReMix will enter my exemplars of OCR trance into the foreseeable future, and, I can only hope that this spawns new interest in this venerable style of ReMixing. Truly, this would be my dance into a dream.