Beautiful Life

Something that is often missing from current dance music are actual songs- you know, the traditional verse, chorus, verse thing. Status quo seems to be a massive build-up, then a dropout with a chorus or refrain before another build-up back to banging beats. When working with the legendary freestyle singer Judy Torres, that just won’t do. Not to be confused with the song of the same name by Armin van Buuren/Cindy Alma, “Beautiful Life” is a beautiful pop translation of the stadium sound. The original production by Eric Rezn has a bit of the ’90s trance sound in there as well, recalling some of the best Perfecto tracks. The synth line sounds oh so familiar, and my trainspotter brain is in overdrive trying to place it. With a few fun “oh oh oh” chants in there as well, this is a great, uplifting end-of-night track for a commercial club (or even for dance radio). The Monikkr mix toughens it up a bit while keeping the pretty elements and the vocals as the focus. It’s definitely great to hear Judy Torres in clubland again.