SOLID FOCUS – Above & Beyond – Acoustic In Concert
Above and Beyond for me are one of the last true unique mainstream artists in the electronic music scene. They have grown and evolved since their creation in the turn of the millennium, with a number of constantly solid releases under the legendary label Anjunabeats. They have released 3 colossal albums, and nurtured the talents of Arty, Mat Zo and Andrew Bayer, earning them a well respected legendary status.Their most successful album, Group Therapy, is literally adored by the loyal legion of A&B fans. They spent over two years touring the world playing a number of their hits with tracks such as Sun & Moon, Thing Called Love and Love is Not Enough being adored by the tens of thousands. They even relaunched their ever popular Trance Around The World (TATW), to the equally successful Group Therapy (ABGT) , which regularly tops the iTunes download charts.
A&B don’t just do the business in the studio, their live performances are consistently of the highest calibre. As someone who has no religious affiliations, seeing A&B live is the closest thing I have felt to a connected spiritual experience. All you have to do is watch this video of ‘Small Moments’ to see what dedication and emotion A&B fans pour into every show. I also vividly remember seeing the pure passion and emotive outpouring of Paavo at Creamfields 2012, which I have yet to see replicated to that level by any DJ live. Their shows are truly amazing, with fans favourites such as Push the Button, and their array of sell out shows in arenas and festivals around the world, along with hosting their own ABGT events in Bangalore and London. They are undoubtably one of the biggest forces in the electronic music scene.
Therefore it is not a great surprise to hear, when A&B announced they were going to release an acoustic album, I was very excited to see the fruits of their labour in a different light. It was also much more than just releasing an album, as they were doing something which nobody in the often ‘over saturated mainstream electronic scene’ has previously done. They first announced they were doing two shows in the Porchester Hall in London, and then another two nights in the Greek Theatre in LA. The subsequent feedback from the shows was very positive and with little surprise, it was confirmed that an acoustic album would be released in early 2014.
I should mention, for those who haven’t heard much of A&B’s work, there is one particular reason their songs really are very special. They manage to create a big room trance and progressive sound, whilst maintaining a soft meaningful and poignant vocal element within their tracks. Therefore I think it is fair to say that this aspect truly connects with the listeners, resulting in many real life connections to their songs. So, the anticipation of breaking down these songs to an acoustic version and further enhancing the vocal elements laid the foundation for something very unique.
Lucky enough on January 28th, 2014, at 21:00 GMT, the video of their live performance in London was released, and boy, it did not fail to please. A&B hand picked 11 classic songs from their previous albums, and re-wrote the songs to fit into an acoustic style. It was particularly interesting to hear Jono, Paavo & Tony talk about how much they enjoyed going back to their musical routes of celo, piano and vocals retrospectively. Electronic music artists often get branded as ‘non musicians’, due to the increasing use of computer based software when creating and producing electronic music. Hopefully this will right some of those misconceptions.
Accompanied with a 15 piece orchestral band, and the vocals of Alex Vargas, Justine Suissa and Zoë Johnston, they have produced a breathtakingly tranquil, yet emotive album which I haven’t been able to stop listening to for the last 6 weeks. I could go through each song track by track individually praising the unique acoustic crafting; but I believe it is correct to just to suggest to the readers to watch and/or listen to the whole album.
Even though I honestly love each song, there is one which personally stands out from the rest. I have always been a big fan of the original mix of Stealing Time. However the combination with the song Satellite, and the way the song is brought in at 2:30, is simply breathtaking.
In a way this album was really for the fans. I have no doubts that this may lead to more individuals being introduced to A&B’s music which is definitely a positive. However part of me wishes to keep the A&B which we all love and adore, exactly the same as they are. Luckily I can sleep tight at night knowing that the foundations which the group have been built upon, are not the same as other corporate sell outs, and through this acoustic album their artistic merit is exemplified to an impressive measure.
All what is left to say is to enjoy the album, and get lost not only within this acoustic soundtrack, but further more the world of trance.