house of virginism - reachin' (love 2 new jersey mix)

one of the first records i ever bought, well over ten years ago mind you, was this ep by swedish vocal house project house of virginism. it was fronted by fredrik asplund more known as apollo and the most known record by this project was "i'll be there for you".

this was a track that i've heard countless times and like and i still have that "doya doodoo doya" hook burned into my brain but they also put out a few other tracks including a cover of blaze/phase II's "reachin'". a track i know that i've heard prior since it was on a compilation that i had.

but i didn't recall it but damn if i liked it on the first listen (or re-listen) since that vocal performance was just something else. apollo told me that he recorded the track the day after a night out with leila k in germany and from personal experiences i wouldn't be able to knock out a track after that. but he really outdid jerry edwards' vocals on the original phase II track and i favour apollos vocals over edward's although i like blaze's original as well.

on that ep there was two versions, one by stonebridge who did the original mix and the other one by danny rampling. he dubbed his remix as the "love 2 new jersey mix" probably as in tribute to blaze. whereas stonebridge did a rugged hardbag version that does the job well, rampling goes all out and does an epic.

right from the piano intro it sets the tone for the ride and along with the additional female vocal. for whatever reason she isn't credited on the inlay but requires mentioning. and i think saying that she is additional is an understatement as it's almost a duet since rampling let her take up so much space. i've asked apollo if he knew who it is but he doesn't remember, and that's a shame.

the track grabs you instantly, it's builds and breaks down and it goes through several states all of which are divine. it's all very uplifting and if the inspirational vocals doesn't solidify it, the pianos & crescendos will. i love this track so much and i could describe it more but it feels futile.