Most labels celebrate 25 years by going bigger. Above & Beyond are going quieter. Anjuna:Chilled 01, out December 3 on their Anjunachill imprint, takes 16 beloved catalog records and reimagines them as ambient, downtempo, and beatless versions. The lead is a new take on 'Sun & Moon' with Richard Bedford's vocal pushed front and center — and a second verse previously heard only in the acoustic version.
Why stripping it down is the bold move
Trance anthems live and die by the drop and the build. Removing the beat entirely means the songs have to survive on melody, vocal, and feeling alone — no festival-field adrenaline to lean on. For a 25th anniversary, that's a confident bet: these records are strong enough to work with the engine taken out.
It's aimed at the fans, not the floor
The track list reads like a love letter to longtime listeners — OceanLab's 'Sky Falls Down,' Luminary's 'Amsterdam,' Smith & Pledger's 'White.' These aren't the obvious radio picks; they're the deep cuts the Anjuna faithful actually hold close. A limited transparent vinyl pressing seals the intent: this is for the people who've been here the whole 25 years.
- Beatless by design. The songs stand on melody and vocal, not the drop.
- A hidden verse. The 'Sun & Moon' rework gives fans something genuinely new.
- For home, not the club. This is headphones-and-tea music, and that's the point.
A quarter-century in, Above & Beyond could have just thrown a huge party. Instead they made the record you put on when the party's over — and honestly, we needed this one.
Feature image: Anjunabeats, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
