Are Above & Beyond pushing towards a higher bpm? While a large majority of their most recent label releases sit between 128-132 bpm, there seem to be hints that they’re thinking of speeding things up.
Ilan Bluestone opened up the 138 discussion with his debut of Hypnotized at ABGT 350, released under his Stoneblue alias. It is unclear whether these releases will be on Anjunabeats, or if another, more psy-trance-centric label will pick them up instead.
At the very least we know that Ilan let the cat out of the bag, with the discussion of 138 ongoing throughout November. Above & Beyond’s Jono Grant joined the conversation last Thursday.
The obsession with a single BPM number (138) is just ridiculous and misses the point. The first records we made together ranged from around 134 to 140. Yes a lot were at 138, but so what? Getting hot and sweaty specifically about 138 is proper face-palm material.
— Jono Grant (@jonogrant) November 21, 2019
With that strong opinion in mind, let’s look at what Jono had to say just four days later.
Moving things forward pic.twitter.com/BiVLKtVdYo
— Jono Grant (@jonogrant) November 25, 2019
Is he serious? Is he trolling? The fact that the BPM is specifically 138.1 opposed to 138.0 could mean that he is joking around with his fans. Or perhaps the group has started experimenting with new ideas. Or perhaps Ilan Bluestone talked them into it.
For now it is unclear, but hopefully we’ll find out soon. In the meantime, take a glance at Above & Beyond’s Dreamstate 2019 tracklist, where they played nearly 12 classic songs from their discography. All 12 of these tracks range around 138 BPM, giving us hope for the future of faster speeds for the trance trio.
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