Everytime We Touch (CD - 2006)

Cascada's 2006 release EVERYTIME WE TOUCH delivers more of the artist's clubby electronic pop, which combines elements of disco, house, and straightforward commercial pop. The insistent, thumping tracks that back Cascada's sweet vocals wouldn't be out of place on the playlist of any mid-2000s DJ, but it's the blonde bombshell's hooky refrains that really make these tunes stick. This comes recommended to those who have enjoyed the recent work of Madonna and Cher.

Everytime We Touch: The Album was the CD originally released in 2006 by Natalie Horler, otherwise known as Cascada, a group name for the girl with flowing blonde hair from Bonn, Germany. Cascada was not just Natalie however, but also DJ Manian (Manuel Reuter) a German DJ and Yanou (born Yann Peifer) a remixer and producer specializing in house music and trance. If one is a fan of Eurobeat pop à la DJ Sammy and the aforementioned Yanou, or any number of anonymous European DJs/producers, then this was the album to buy. It was filled with 15 tunes, all with the same insistent drum machine to the fore, set to the same speed, far too fast for running, let alone jogging, and a synthesizer as the only other instrument to be heard. Produced by the two male members of Cascada, the title track was a massive summer hit in the U.K., reaching number two in August 2006; it was followed by the Savage Garden song "Truly Madly Deeply" at Christmas, and "Miracle," which became yet another Top Ten hit in March just as the album was reissued. The tempo slows down on just one track, the ballad "Another You" although two tracks are featured on the album in two different mixes: "Truly Madly Deeply" was recorded as a Eurobeat single version, and also as a slow trance version almost the same tempo as the Savage Garden original, while "Everytime We Touch" was recorded as a very slow ballad and titled the "Candlelight remix" in the same vein as the earlier hit by Yanou was turned into an ultra slow "Heaven" ("Candlelight remix"). The music is for dancing to, particularly in a club with the lights flashing and people all around, not sitting in a living room listening to it, so after nearly an hour of the same repetitive beat, one's senses can become a little jaded, so when you reach the songs "Kids in America" and "Wouldn't It Be Good," you can only remember how good the originals by Kim Wilde and Nik Kershaw were. Rewind nearly 15 years and 2 Unlimited were hitting the top of the charts with very similar albums and, rather unusually for this genre of music, Cascada's album also hung around the upper regions of the charts spending 11 weeks inside the Top Ten and peaking at number two. ~ Sharon Mawer minimize