BT – The Lost Art of Longing (Album)

BT has already had quite an accomplished career over the past 25 years across a number of industries. The Grammy nominated artist is known for being a trance music icon, composing original scores for movies like Go, The Fast and the Furious, and Monster, writing the music for the Tomorrowland area at Shanghai Disneyland, and creating the Stutter Edit plug in (of which he holds multiple patents for, with Stutter Edit 2 being released in late June) and other related music software.

As if Brian Transeau was not busy enough, he released his 13th studio album in “The Lost Art of Longing” (and his first dance music oriented album in seven years) last Friday on Black Hole Recordings. The 14 track set comes 15 years after his debut album “Ima” was released in 1995 on Paul Oakenfold’s label Perfecto Records.

The new album consists of original songs and collaborations with the likes of Matt Fax and Nation Of One, Au5 and Mangal Suvarnan, Iraina Mancini, Wish I Was and Lola Rhodes, April Bender, Christian Burns, and Emma Hewitt. Also included in the album are remixes of “No Warning Lights” by ALPHA 9, Sean Tyas, and Andy Duguid, in addition to 7″ versions of a few of the tracks.

“One of the things nearing extinction; is the art of longing”, BT says. “As in, wanting of something you cannot immediately have. If anything positive is to come from the situation the world collectively finds itself in, it is my great hope – speed, instant gratification, and over-stimulation are swapped out for longing, imagination, and relational connection. For a child or teenager to sit thoughtfully and ponder what is to come, to hope for or envision something amazing, to dream of a place or a future – is becoming obsolete. Longing has been replaced with instant gratification. My hope is that this record reacquaints my audience with the lost art of longing. That they will take pause, get quiet, daydream, and connect to their own place of longing. Because that, I believe, is where the magic is.”

When the album was released on Friday, BT held a TLAOL listening party where he talked about the the process in creating “The Lost Art of Longing” and went in to detail about each of the songs, the equipment used in creating the sounds, and how the tracks came together with each of the artists involved. The week prior, BT had the guest mix on Above & Beyond’s Group Therapy 393 where he played a number of tunes from the album. Coming up this week, he will be doing an AMA on reddit, so keep an eye out for the day and time!

I’ve spent the past few hours listening to all 21 tracks in “The Lost Art of Longing” (it takes a bit to listen to 14 tracks of about 93 minutes and the other seven tracks of about 36 minutes) and will most likely roll through them all again a few more times this week. Needless to say, it’s been a pretty good Sunday afternoon for me. If this is your first time listening to it, it makes both an amazing end to the weekend and an amazing beginning to the week ahead.

The fan reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, to say the least. The album has hit the top of the iTunes charts as the number one dance record in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, and is also the number one overall album in Japan.

The album has been in the making for over three years, and you can hear the dedication and excitement of BT when you listen to him in the TLAOL listening party video alongside his wife Lacy, who is also his tour manager (with a special appearance from their dog Scout). If you have 82 minutes to spare and want to get inside the mind of BT, then you’ll definitely want to check out the video.

I’ve been a big fan of BT for some time now, starting with his 2004 Tiesto collaboration in “Love Comes Again” that features his own vocals to his more recent work like last year’s “1997” with Ferry Corsten. From his early beginnings to the 14 songs on the album, BT has truly shown his diverse and versatile production skills. Ranging from cinematic to progressive, breakbeat to electro and more, “The Lost Art of Longing” is a satisfying 93 minute journey through electronic dance music.

Various songs from the album have been supported by Armin van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Markus Schulz, Kyau & Albert, Paul van Dyk, Cosmic Gate, Andrew Rayel, and Fatum.

BT – Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Soundcloud

Buy / Stream

BT – The Lost Art of Longing (Album) Tracklist:

01. BT – Game Theory (Original Mix)
02. BT – Wildfire (Original Mix)
03. BT, Matt Fax & Nation Of One – Walk into the Water (Original Mix)
04. BT & Matt Fax – 1AM in Paris (Original Mix)
05. BT, Au5 & Mangal Suvarnan – The Light is Always On (Original Mix)
06. BT & Iraina Mancini – The War (Original Mix)
07. BT – Weltanschauung (Original Mix)
08. BT – I Will Be Yours (Original Mix)
09. BT, Wish I Was & Lola Rhodes – If I Can Love You Right (Original Mix)
10. BT – Never Odd or Even (Original Mix)
11. BT & April Bender – Windows (Original Mix)
12. BT & Christian Burns – Red Lights (Original Mix)
13. BT & Emma Hewitt – No Warning Lights (Original Mix)
14. BT & Christian Burns – Save Me (Original Mix)
15. BT & Emma Hewitt – No Warning Lights (ALPHA 9 Remix)
16. BT & Emma Hewitt – No Warning Lights (Sean Tyas Remix)
17. BT & Emma Hewitt – No Warning Lights (Andy Duguid Remix)
18. BT & Matt Fax – 1 AM in Paris (7″)
19. BT & Iraina Mancini – The War (7″)
20. BT & Emma Hewitt – No Warning Lights (7″)
21. BT – Never Odd or Even (7″)