Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge -- Day 10: A Relaxing Song

Delerium and Sarah McLachlan – Silence (DJ Tiesto In Search of Sunrise Remix)



For as long as I’ve been “seriously” listening to music, I’ve held a soft spot for electronica. At one point, I was committed to equally splitting my album purchases between rock, hip hop, and electronic albums, a notion that went out the window when I realized there weren’t that many techno groups that I liked. Regardless, I’ve still held a spark for club techno, making the recent trend of trance-influenced pop songs rather rewarding for me.

I first heard this track on a mix CD made by a classmate of mine during high school, and it’s stuck with me ever since. “Silence” represents everything I love about the “epic trance” genre: a low-key beginning that eventually builds into a titanic wall of sound, and a song that uses its rather extensive run time to create anticipation for the song’s climax. It takes patience to listen to, but not once have I ever felt this song to be anything less than completely rewarding.

Like most epic trance songs, “Silence” begins slowly, creating atmosphere and acting as a sort of sonic foyer. Gradually, the elements start to introduce themselves, an ambient noise here, a new synth part here, each adding to a complete musical picture. Before long, the song drops its bass line and drums, effectively hypnotizing the listener.

Then come the vocals. If there’s one singer whose work I feel guilty for not appreciating, it’s Sarah McLachlan—I absolutely love this woman’s voice, even if I’m not too crazy about her music catalog. Her voice has such an ethereal, otherworldly vibe, and it complements “Silence’s” sparse production, growing stronger and stronger until it finally crashes over the listener like an enormous wave. By the time the chorus finally hits, the listener is practically frothing for melodic release, and the track is only too happy to oblige. In a sense, “Silence’s” structure is one of the most compelling arguments for foreplay I’ve ever heard.

I used to listen to this song all the time before I went to sleep, and occasionally still do. The song’s pulsating rhythms and otherworldly sound put me into a state of utter relaxation, letting me simply unwind from the world for a good ten minutes.