Above & Beyond Live Trance & Progressive DJ-Sets 32GB USB SPECIAL Compilation (2001 - 2026)

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Above & Beyond (2001 - 2026)Live Trance & Progressive DJ-Sets USB Special 175 Live DJ-Sets + 352 Hours of Music We have put together this Quality Collection of Trance DJ-Sets which offers the buyer a great chance to purchase this fantastic series of DJ Sets from one of the best Trance Groups all in one Convenient Affordable DJ-Sets Compilation The DJ-Sets can easily be used on your Home Entertainment System, In-Car MP3 Player, Home PC / Apple Mac, Mobile Phone, Portable Music Player or Tablet and through your Smart TV or DJ Equipment Setup using the USB Drive option, so you have a huge variety of different devices in which you can play our DJ-Set Compilations, regardless of whether you are at home, in the car, or the train or on the move. These DJ-Sets Special Collections offer the Best Possible Series of DJ-Sets for a particular Artist/Group or Club/Event at the Best Possible Price Most of these collections have taken well over a decade to collect, catalogue, and put together, so you won't find a better collection of DJ Sets from this Artist/Group or Club/ Event anywhere else on the planet, in these discounted packages exclusive to ourselves. Compilation Listing ABOVE & BEYOND 2001 - 2002 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live on ID&T Radio (17.11.01) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Ministry of Sound in London (25.05.02) - 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2003 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ Global DJ Broadcast (20.03.03) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Global DJ Broadcast (23.06.03) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Global DJ Broadcast (04.08.03) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live on DI FM Radio (12.05.03) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live on DI FM Radio (17.03.03) - HourAbove & Beyond - Live on DI FM Radio (09.06.03) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live on Nova 969 in Sydney (14.12.03) - 45 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Generator (21.11.03) - 2 HoursABOVE & BEYOND 2004 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ Trance Escape (09.01.04) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live Trance Classics Mix (2004) - 4 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Melomania Deluxe (19.04.04) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live on Radio 1 Essential Mix (06.06.04) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ the Trancemission (26.06.04) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Trance Escape (09.01.04) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Global DJ Broadcast (05.05.04) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live on Ministry Radio (24.08.04) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live on Ministry Radio (31.08.04) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Trance Around The World (07.09.04) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ MAD (24.09.04) - 45 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Ministry Of Sound (03.02.04) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Trance Around The World (14.09.04) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Gatecrasher Party in Russia (26.09.04) - 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live on ID&T Radio (14.11.04) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live On Nova 969 in Sydney (14.12.04) - 45 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2005 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live on ID&T Radio (01.01.05) - 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Extravadance (05.06.05) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Global Gathering 2005 (31.07.05) - VideoAbove & Beyond - Live @ Space in Ibiza (14.08.05) - 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2006 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ Technoclub (09.02.06) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Trance Energy 2006 (11.02.06) - 75 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Maximal on SSL Radio (14.04.06) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Miami WMC 2006 (24.03.06) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Nocturnal Sessions (22.04.06) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Anjunabeats Classics (09.06.06) - 150 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Ministry of Sound (04.08.06) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ HI-FI Festival in Ireland (05.08.06) - 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Salmiakki Sessions (17.08.06) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Sensation White (22.10.06) - 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Lovefest 2006 in Ireland (2006) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Cafe Mambo in Ibiza (20.07.06) - 20 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Fistral Beach in Newquay (06.08.06) - 20 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live on JJJ Mixup (29.07.06) - 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2007 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ Kristina Sky (08.02.07) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Anjunabeats Promo Mix (2007) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ After Hours on 1FM (02.06.07) - 1 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live on Bora Music (02.02.07) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Planet Love in Ireland (09.09.07) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Expedition 100 Celebration (30.09.07) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Nature One 2007 (03.08.07) - 75 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Puresound Sessions (14.11.07) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Tendence 2007 (04.11.07) - 135 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2008 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live on Global Warmup (12.04.08) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ GOA in India (04.01.08) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live on Global Warmup (12.04.08) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Godskitchen in Wroclaw (05.04.08) - 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Global Gathering in Russia (03.08.08) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Vangogh Club in Ekaterinburg (11.07.08) - 1 HourJudge Jules & Above and Beyond - Live @ Global Warmup (13.09.08) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Groove Radio International (15.08.08) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Anjuna Beats Promo (29.08.08) - 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2009 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ The Mainroom Mix Session (12.03.09) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF 2009 I (28.03.09) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live on Groove Radio (03.03.09) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Club FG (29.05.09) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live on UMF Radio (30.10.09) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Blow Ya Speakers (22.10.09) - 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2010 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live on the Dance Floor (07.03.10) - 2 Hours Above & Beyond - Live @ WMC 2010 in Miami (24.03.10) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Global Warmup (09.04.10) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ EDC 2010 in Los Angeles (26.06.10) - 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo (22.07.10) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Liberty Parade 2010 (24.07.10) - 3 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live on UMF Radio (27.08.10) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo in New York (03.09.10) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo in New York (05.09.10) - 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo Radio (26.08.10) - 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2011 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ 10 Years of Anjunabeats (10.02.11) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ WMC 2011 in Miami (25.03.11) - 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ ASOT 500 in Den Bosch (09.04.11) - 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Best of UMF Radio (24.03.11) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Tight Space in London (17.11.11) - 45 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2012 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ M20 Heroes (16.02.12) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ M20 Heroes (16.02.12) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo in New York (31.08.12) - 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Club FG on Radio FG (09.09.12) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Club FG on Radio FG (23.09.12) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo in New York (02.09.12) - 30 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2013 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ Surrender in Las Vegas (26.05.13) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Kiss Present's (14.03.13) - 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF 2013 in Miami (17.03.13) - 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo 2013 in New York (30.08.13) - 20 Mins Above & Beyond - Live @ ASOT 600, UMF 2013 in Miami (23.03.13) - 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Stereosonic 2013 in Sydney (01.12.13) - 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2014 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF 2014 in Miami (29.03.14) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Surrender in Las Vegas (26.05.13) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ The Budweiser Hotel in Rio (12.06.14) – 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ EDC 2014 in Las Vegas (22.06.14) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Thank You Festival in Columbia (26.06.14) – 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF 2014 in Croatia (11.07.14) – 75 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Tomorrowland 2014 in Boom (26.07.14) – 75 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Burning Man in Nevada (30.07.14) – 45 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Beyond Wonderland in SF (20.08.14) – 20 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Radio 1 Party, Privilege in Ibiza (02.08.14) – 75 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Lollapalooza in Chicago (27.11.14) – 75 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2015 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ WMC 2015 in Miami (25.03.15) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF Radio 300 (06.02.15) – 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ EDC 2015 in Las Vegas (20.06.15) – 75 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2016 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF 2015 in Croatia (16.07.16) – 20 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam (24.09.16) – 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2017 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF 2017 in Miami (25.03.17) – 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Sirius XM Music Lounge (23.03.17) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Nature One 2017 in Germany (04.08.17) – 90 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2018 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ ASOT 850 in Miami (25.03.18) – 90 MInsAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF 2018 in Miami (25.03.18) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ House of Chill in Miami (22.03.18) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Tomorrowland 2018 in Boom (20.07.18) – 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Tomorrowland 2018 in Boom (28.07.18) – 1 HourABOVE & BEYOND 2019 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ WMC 2019 in Miami (27.03.19) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ The Awakening in Sydney (16.03.19) – 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ EDC 2019 in Las Vegas (17.05.19) – 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo 2017 in New York (31.09.19) – 90 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2020 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ UMF Virtual Festival 2020 (20.03.20) – 30 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Zoo Festival 2020 (06.09.20) – 1 Hour 2020 ANJUNADEEP SET SERIESAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (20.05.20) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (27.05.20) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (05.06.20) – 4 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (27.06.20) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (05.07.20) – 4 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (27.07.20) – 4 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (26.08.20) – 4 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (02.09.20) – 4 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (10.09.20) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (02.10.20) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (12.10.20) – 3 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (09.12.20) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (15.12.20) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep Special (23.12.20) – 10 Hours ABOVE & BEYOND 2021 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - LIve @ Dance Again Virtual Festival (28.05.21) – 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Guatape Colombia For Cercle (13.12.21) – 90 Mins ANJUNADEEP LOCKDOWN SERIES Above & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (17.01.21) – 6 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (25.02.21) – 6 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (03.03.21) – 6 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (12.03.21) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (06.04.21) – 10 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (26.04.21) – 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (08.06.21) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (05.11.21) – 6 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (07.12.21) – 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (21.03.22) – 7 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (26.04.21) – 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep Set Anjunadeep (25.09.22) – 4 Hours ABOVE & BEYOND 2022 TRANCE DJ SETSAbove & Beyond - Live @ Lights All Night NYE 2021 (01.01.22) – 75 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Deep House in Buenos Aires (12.04.22) – 5 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ For Cercle in Guatape, Colombia (16.05.22) – 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Reflections Special Continuous Mix (16.06.22) – 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Brooklyn Mirage in Brooklyn (21.08.22) – 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Radio 1 Wind Down Reflections (10.12.22) – 1 HourAbove & Beyond - Live @ Contact 2022 in Vancouver (29.12.22) – 90 MinsABOVE & BEYOND 2023 TRANCE DJ SETS Above & Beyond - Live @ EDC 2023 in Las Vegas (19.05.23) – 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Electric Forest 2023 (25.06.23) – 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Transmission in Netherlands (02.12.23) - 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Dreamstate in San Francisco (31.12.23) - 2 Hours ABOVE & BEYOND 2024 TRANCE DJ SETS Above & Beyond - Live @ Lollapalooza in Buenos Aires (16.03.24) - 75 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ Asuncionico Concert in Prague (19.03.24) - 90 MinsAbove & Beyond - Live @ US Tour in in New York (16.06.24) - 1 Hour ABOVE & BEYOND 2025 TRANCE DJ SETS Above & Beyond - Live @ Coachella 2025 in California (13.04.25) - 1 Hour ABOVE & BEYOND 2026 TRANCE DJ SETS Above & Beyond - Live @ Electric Daisy Carnival 2026 in Mexico (20.02.26) - 90 Mins GROUP THERAPY BIRTHDAY SESSIONS Above & Beyond - Live @ Group Therapy 100 (18.10.14) - 6 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ Group Therapy 150 (26.09.15) - 6 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ GT200 in Amsterdam (15.10.16) – 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ GT250 in WA (22.09.17) – 3 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ GT350 in Prague (11.10.19) – 3 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ GT400 in London (30.09.20) – 4 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ GT450, Drumsheds in London (11.09.21) – 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ GT500, Banc Of California in LA (29.10.22) – 2 HoursAbove & Beyond - Live @ GT600, Hipódromo de las Américas (19.10.24) - 2 Hours Artists Profile Current Location :: London, UK Real Names :: Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness & Paavo Siljamäki Music Genres :: Trance Allias/Collaboration :: AALTO, Dirt Devils, Freestate, Nitromethane, POS, Tranquility Base, Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, Ooceanlab There are DJs who can rock a party, a club, a festival. And there are acts that can write songs that will bring out the goose bumps in you. But there’s only one group that can do both: Above & Beyond.The best moment at ABGT250, Above & Beyond’s skyscraping open-air festival staged in front of 23,000 fans at Washington state’s Gorge Amphitheatre in September? Ask the three men at the heart of it, you get three different answers.Paavo Siljamäki: “One day I was having lunch on my own in the winery – I know, a winery! – next to The Gorge and heard these two couples chatting. They didn’t know each other beforehand, but as I sat there eavesdropping I realised I was listening to them becoming friends. They’d been drawn together by ABGT250. That was the essence of the weekend for me."Jono Grant: "I was in a car heading off the site with [singer] Zoë Johnston, and there was a long stream of fans leaving The Gorge. Zoë and I asked the driver to stop the car on a bridge that was above the flowing river of fans, and we got and waved goodbye to them as the walked through the tunnel. Everyone were screaming like crazy and it was a really fun moment. It never ceases to amaze me both how much love and dedication the fans have towards it all.”Tony McGuinness: “Paavo was doing an 11am yoga set and I went with him. So, 2000 people in front of the yoga stage doing the downward dog, then a couple thousand more just enjoying the tunes he was playing, then a six-abreast stream of people in Anjunabeats and Above & Beyond t-shirts walking from the campsite – seeing all that for the first time, and seeing our family, if you like, in broad daylight and bright sunshine, brought home to me the enormity of our community. They were coming together in the spirit of openness and warmth and music. Let’s just say I was glad I was wearing sunglasses because, honestly, I was choking up.” Three answers, one unifying theme: for their latest (ad)venture, hosted to mark their 250th Group Therapy radio show, Above & Beyond had crystallised something that lay at the heart of everything they’ve achieved over their 17 years together. From developing that groundbreaking radio show to touring the world’s best clubs and most illustrious venues; from establishing a thriving, multi-artist label to building a peerless catalogue of artist albums; from creating iconic dance anthems to curating soulful acoustic rerubs, one thing stands out. That is: Above & Beyond have carved out a unique space in music and culture, one that reaches far beyond their electronic roots. In so doing, Jono, Paavo and Tony have created something special: a common ground where all sorts of people and ideas can come together. Celebration, kinship, community – it’s the A&B way.Presenting, then, Common Ground. The trio’s fourth electronic album is the follow-up to 2015’s Grammy-nominated We Are All We Need, and comes in the wake of sell-out shows at totemic venues ranging from Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre to London’s O2. It features a quartet of guest vocalists, a couple of them longstanding members of the family, a couple of them valued newcomers. And it’s an album born from everything they’ve done so far, most recently the glorious Gorge happening and the band’s 2016 orchestral tour in support of their second acoustic album.“We were just absolutely spoiled with every venue on that tour,” says a still-buzzing Paavo. “The Sydney Opera House was emotional because that was the end of the whole tour. But I never thought we could do a show at a Broadway theatre, or the Hollywood Bowl or the Royal Albert Hall – the ultimate homecoming gig for any band based in London. It was really the stuff of dreams.”“It was great opportunity to make real in a live band universe – which means a lot to me – everything we’ve done with Above & Beyond so far,” continues Tony. “Us playing keyboards and guitars, and all those live strings and horns, consolidated my fantasy about everything Above & Beyond can and should be.” When it came to writing the songs for their next album, that tour, he adds, had an immediate,“The success of the acoustic tour has relaxed us even more in terms of what we can do and what we can use.”Less than 18 months since the end that most recent world tour, and only two months since The Gorge, an energised and invigorated Above & Beyond are already almost ready for their next chapter. The finishing touches are being made to Common Ground in the band’s London studio, but the songs are already firmly in place.An early keeper was the heartfelt, bittersweet Cold Feet, written and recorded with returning vocalist Justine Suissa in Paavo’s new studio in his Finnish homeland. “By the end of summer 2016 we had had some really good writing sessions,” he explains. "Then Justine came over to Finland in January to write songs with me. We were swimming in a frozen lake, then popping indoors to write a song with a piano and a mic in this totally isolated place. It was a fantastic place to be creative together."Beyond that, two teaser tracks have already been rapturously received. First up is the bleak-but-beautiful Tightrope, a big club track that Tony wrote with Martin Longstaff. “I met Marty at Chris Difford’s songwriting workshop at Glastonbury a couple years ago. I was just blown away by him.” Welcomed into the A&B brood as a guest vocalist, his writing skills were too good an opportunity for the ever-curious band to pass by. “Writing Tightrope together was a fantastic experience, and it just shows a slightly different side to us. It’s quite dark but still glorious because of his angelic voice.” Then there’s the euphoric My Own Hymn, which features A&B favourite Zoë Johnston. “She’s just an absolute thrill to work with,” says Paavo, “and to see how her mind works – she’s one of the most creative people I know. And that song is really a result of one of these days where we just sit down with some ideas and at the end of the day we have a song.”Tony describes Common Ground’s second single as his favourite track on the album. “As well as being this wonderful earth mother to all of us, Zoë has a lovely independent streak. And this song puts into words that feeling that everyone can write their own script if they want to. It has depth and a fantastic inspirational side. We’re so lucky to have her in the band.”Now, teeing up the album’s January 2018 release – as well as a pair of landmark, turn-of-the-year shows at New York’s Barclays Centre and the Los Angeles Convention Centre (followed by a full spring US tour) – comes new single Northern Soul. Tony wrote it in 2014 after the band shot the On A Good Day video in Detroit. He wanted to hymn the qualities of a once great, then neglected and now resurgent heartland American city.“There’s a sense of hope when you go to Detroit now,” he notes, “and I knew I wanted to write a song about that.”Less immediately clear was who would be the singer. Exploring all their options, the band tried out (in Tony’s estimation) ten singers. All were great in their own ways, but none fitted the bill exactly. Then he had the brainwave of sounding out one of the trio’s foundational singers. Richard Bedford was the voice of some of Above & Beyond’s cornerstone songs, notably Sun & Moon and Thing Called Love, before going off to do his own thing. “I just thought, sod it, I’ll give him a shout, see if he’s up for coming back,” relates Tony. He was, and he did, “and it immediately sounded and felt right. He’s got one those voices that has a really lovely balance of power and vulnerability. And because he’s one of our original singers, it’s like he owns the song. It’s great to have back in the family.”Bedford’s involvement speaks to another dynamic at work on Common Ground. As they approach their 18-years-young birthday, Above & Beyond are refreshing their roots to reach new heights.As Paavo says, “working with Richard for the first time in ages has that feeling of us looking back at our beginnings – and Northern Soul definitely covers again that happy-sad territory. It sounds like something really old and something really new mixed together.”On Northern Soul, at least, the threesome are coming full circle. But as for the rest of Common Ground? On previous form, it’ll showcase Above & Beyond not so much circling as spiralling upwards, outwards and onwards – not least on the not-quite-completed Is It Love (1001) a track which features another brand new vocalist.“Yeah, Jono sings that,” chuckles Tony, “which is something he’s never done before. He’s very, very critical of his own singing, but in terms of the music he likes to emulate, that Eighties pop thing, his voice is absolutely perfect on this.”"I didn’t originally want to sing it, but the guys seemed to like it,” begins Jono by way of (humble) explanation. The backstory, he continues, is that the song was always meant to be a vocal track. “But the lovely folk at the offices at Anjunabeats rushed it to release, so it first came out as an instrumental. Musically, it’s a mix of synth pop with a strange combo of trance and almost a French disco feel to the crunchy claps in the chorus. I’d put some scratch vocal melody ideas down a long time ago, and then later we came back to it with Tony writing the lyrics to fit the melodies around my original 'it’s the same way down' demo lyric. I am a big Eighties synth pop fan,” he acknowledges, "so I wanted to do something with that kind of aesthetic."In its own small way, Is It Love (1001) and its deft, smartly realised vocal left-turn sums up again that A&B way. As Paavo cheerfully puts it in conclusion, “we do get bored quite quickly. When we’re busy and creative, we’re excited. And we want to remain excited, and that means moving sideways, moving forwards…” Show more