We live in an era where music travels at lightning speed across social networks. Most of the time, artists announce a new track only to release it the very next day and within a few weeks, it’s already forgotten, replaced by countless others. Waiting for the release of a track that’s been played for months at festivals has become an increasingly rare exception. Within the wide range of tracks and collaborations that Armin van Buuren consistently releases each year, always thrilling his ever-growing and diverse fanbase, we once again find such an exception: recently, together with Scottish singer and producer SACHA, he released a track that had already been featured in his sets and festivals since late March: the highly acclaimed Set Me Free, further enhanced by the Rising Star Remix included in the release. A similar story applies to the long-awaited collaboration with another iconic Dutch legend, Richard Durand and Danish duo Lars and Rasmus, better known as Dicosis: this track, too, was first played during Armin’s DJ set at the ASOT Stage of the Ultra Music Festival in Miami on March 28th.
After so many months, the collaboration has finally been announced, although fans had already learned almost everything about this much-hyped and eagerly anticipated production. What hadn’t been revealed yet was that Always You would become the anthem for the new A State Of Trance 2026: in fact, the track’s sound already hinted at the possibility, as it strongly recalls the style of some of the legendary festival’s past anthems. The official announcement finally arrived this evening during the special episode 1248 A State Of Trance X ADE, broadcast live from the Amsterdam studios. We’ve heard Always You countless times and know it well by now: it’s a perfect vocal trance track, free from the techno or nostalgic ’90s trance influences that have characterized many trance releases in recent years and it’s a track that fits perfectly with the 25th anniversary celebrations of the most famous trance radio show ever. This is the first time Richard Durand and Armin van Buuren have collaborated on a track, although they’ve come close several times with numerous remixes by Durand of Armin’s tracks (such as the remix of Wild Wild Son from 2018, as well for the legendary In And Out Of Love from 2008 and the more recent remix of Waiting For The Night)