United States of Trance proves that Lawrence has a handle on some of the best music in trance today. Although I've known some hardcore electronic fans who never crossed the lines of their genre -- e.g., trip-hop fans who just can't seem to stomach anything that doesn't sound like trip-hop -- Lawrence can even convert the non-trance fan. They collapse at his sound into the state he most favours: dazed to the short cut beats and repeated synth lines of his music. He actually sounds a little bit like Josh Wink and Keoki, though Wink and Keoki are more associated with house. You'll also notice elements of Aphex Twin in Lawrence's style.

His opening track is a bold gambit: the beats of "Genesis" grab you by the hips, immediately getting your body swaying and your feet moving. Unlike some other electronica artists -- for instance, Carl Cox or Sasha and Digweed, who build the music slowly and then let it peak and dive throughout an album's run -- Lawrence never really lets the dancer rest. He also keeps his mix jumping with non-trance styles. "AM-Pacific" has a junglist feel; there are no vocals, and the track's beats move at the speed of light, with some touches of bass that invoke Keoki. "Twisted" has some of the same beats and a melodic line found in Josh Wink's "Higher State of Consciousness", but Lawrence brings the track down to a slower pace and makes it much more melodic than Wink ever would have. The ambience induced by the synth and the sound sample doodlings make "Wales" seem more mellow on the surface, but the heavy, short beats looped over and the funky triple chords make this a slick song of urban alienation. I can picture hearing "Wales" in an updated remake of Blade Runner. When you close your eyes, the synthesized horns and violins in "Trauma" are enough to make you feel as though you're witnessing one. Some of the siren noises are remniscent of the mid-'90s, when sirens, alarms and whistles were de rigeur (see the Chemical Brothers' Exit Planet Dust). Frankly, I've had a bit more of that trend than I can take; there must be some other way for the DJ to suggest death-defying excitement to dancers rather than making them think the pigs are raiding the dance floor. Other than that minor quibble, though, the album rocks, from first track to last.

Now in his more sober early '30s, the formerly azure-tressed Lawrence seems to have kept the party spirit alive. Even if he's let his hair go natural, the only thing natural about his beats is your need to shake your bum along with them. Become one with the United States of Trance, as soon as possible.