X-Perience

In 1995 producer Matthias Uhle, his vocalist sister Claudia Uhle, and multi-instrumentalist Alex Kaiser, who also supplied lyrics, brought the trance-pop project X-Perience into view by issuing the independently made and self-distributed single “Circles of Love.” The track’s gentle shimmer drew from the melodic terrain of a-ha and Enya while echoing the somber electronic atmospheres associated with Depeche Mode, Delerium, and early Talk Talk. Strategic radio exposure turned the song into an immediate success, sending it to the summit of the charts where it remained for six months before a remixed edition extended its reach. Even without further forward-looking singles, X-Perience sustained its audience; the 1996 debut album Magic Fields attained platinum status in Finland, and the group’s first Polydor release “Island of Dreams”—following the move from WEA—served as the theme for the German edition of the Survivor television series.