The EDM explosion in the past decade has become somewhat of a global phenomenon. DJs whose impact was formerly limited to the realms of the dance music world have made the transition to the mainstream with relative ease. This transition stems from two key factors. First, dance music by itself has become almost a reigning genre of sorts. Second, DJs have reinvented themselves as producers for mainstream or “conventional” pop artists. In a way, it does make sense that the metamorphosis into a producer would be a natural next step in the artistic evolution of a DJ. DJs such as David Guetta, Armin Van Buuren, and Calvin Harris have done this through a series of collaborations with musical A-listers such as Ellie Goulding, Ne-Yo, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Sia. Despite the attempt at versatility, their genre of choice and the sonic template for these collaborations is deep-rooted in dance music. We see a few DJs that branch out of his rather limiting sound and who try to create a soundscape that compliments the vocal style of the artist they are working with. Swedish DJ Avicii accomplishes this with ease on his latest offering titled “The Days” featuring one of Britain’s biggest musical exports – Robbie Williams.

The song opens with a sonic flirtation between an acoustic guitar and a highly synthesized sound. The song breaks into its simplistic verse without much of an intro. The pre-chorus is very Robbie Williams-esque and morphs quickly into an uplifting chorus.

These are the days we’ve been waiting for
And days like these you couldn’t ask for more
Keep them coming
Cause we’re not done yet
These are the days we won’t regret
These are the days we won’t forget

It is from the second verse that the song turns into more of a dance-oriented Avicii-esque track. The marriage of acoustic and synthesized dance elements works quite well on the track. The one distinct aspect of this song is Robbie Williams’ vocals. They appear to be processed. If we did not know that he was the featured vocalist on this track, we would not have assumed that it was him.

The track is pleasant enough if not earthshattering. It is definitely one of the better singles to be released this year but is not exactly a defining milestone for Robbie Williams in the wake of his musical legacy. If not for anything else, it serves as a reasonably good antidote to the week-old not-so-great news about another former Take That member (for those of you in North America, Robbie Williams was part of Britain’s biggest boyband Take That – and the member that exited Take That last week is Jason Orange). Last, but not least, it is always great to have a new musical offering from the great Robbie Williams..

Here is a full-length video clip of “The Days“:

STAR RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars