Nobody had ARGY on their Armin van Buuren collaboration bingo card. And yet here we are. “Like A Child” the first-ever link-up between the Dutch trance icon and the Greek melodic techno producer. The track is now out now via Armin’s own label Armada Music. The track premiered on the mainstage of Ultra Music Festival Miami this year. It then picked up plays at EDC, A State of Trance, Resistance Miami, and Ushuaïa Dubai, and by the time it reached a formal release it had already spent months being road-tested in front of some of the biggest crowds both artists play to.
Two Worlds, One Record
The best collaborations do not split the difference between two artists, they find something neither could have made alone. Armin van Buuren operates at the melodic, mainstage end of the spectrum. He is a five-time No.1 in the DJ Mag Top 100. His A State of Trance radio show has run for over two decades and reaches tens of millions of listeners worldwide.
On the other hand we have ARGY. He broke into a fresh phase with “Ketuvim,” in 2021 a release that triggered his induction into the Afterlife family and established his current sonic identity: hypnotic, cinematic, emotive techno with an edge in a manner of speaking. His follow-up “Tataki” quickly became the soundtrack of the Tulum 2022 season. It topped the Beatport charts, and catapulted him from underground favourite to a much broader audience.
On paper, these are two artists who have built devoted followings in different rooms. “Like A Child” makes the case that those rooms are closer than either fanbase might expect. Armin’s melodic instincts and ARGY’s darker, more driving energy meet in a track that has peak-time weight without sacrificing emotional depth. Marlo Rex’s vocals are what seal it. “I wanted to capture the feeling of going back to the beginning and remembering why I make music,” Marlo explains. That sense of reflection sits at the core of the track, giving it a layer of feeling that pure club records rarely carry.
Speaking on the collaboration, Armin van Buuren said: “I loved working with ARGY on this one — it came together really naturally. The vocals from Marlo Rex add a special emotional layer that fits perfectly with both of our styles.”
“We held onto this collaboration idea until the right track came together, and now it’s ready,” adds ARGY. “‘Like A Child’ feels special.”
What It Means for Both Artists
For Armin, “Like A Child” continues a run of collaborations that have pushed his sound into territory that keeps his output current without abandoning what made him one of the most enduring figures in electronic music. For ARGY, it is another signal that his NEWORLD era. A global concept tour conceived as a fully realised audiovisual experience that has taken him to prime slots at EDC, Tomorrowland, and sold-out headline shows across the United States, China, India, Japan, and the Middle East. This makes him an artist operating well beyond the underground circles where his reputation was first built.
“Like A Child” is out now on Armada Music. Stream it here.
