Past and Future Collide on Above & Beyond's 'Anjunabeats Volume 16'

The Anjunabeats compilation series celebrates its Sweet 16 with two discs featuring Oliver Smith, SØNIN, Sunny Lax, Genix, and more!

To continually stay successful as a label in dance music, you must either have a strong stable of artists or strong individual hits. For UK-based Anjunabeats, it has had a plethora of both. Served as an exclusive mix from Above & Beyond themselves, their label’s self-titled compilation series has been graced by some of the strongest in trance and progressive and doubles as a showcase of the label’s direction. But, Anjunabeats Volume 16 takes a bit of a turn from its predecessors.

With 33 tracks spread out as a two-disc display of label highlights, Above & Beyond stylizes the first half of the compilation with afternoon grooves and the second with nightclub dancefloors in mind. Volume 16 also showcases more fresh faces than previous compilations, with five artists from the Rising compilation series getting nods from the label heads. Of course, with the Anjuna staples also present and accounted for, we get a pure snapshot of the imprint as a whole.

We hope you enjoy ‘Anjunabeats Volume 16’ as much as we do. More so than recent editions, both CDs feel like self-contained journeys, with CD1 perhaps best for an afternoon session and CD2 for the nightclub. It’s a testament to our ever-expanding and talented community of artists that we’re able to explore so many different sounds on this compilation album. Most of all it’s full of the warmth and positivity you find in this family, and we hope to meet you at a show sometime very soon.
– Above & Beyond

Before we dig into the details, grab your copy of Anjunabeats Volume 16 on your favorite music platform, listen to the bold new compilation on Spotify, and read on for our thoughts!

**Stream Above & Beyond – Anjunabeats Volume 16 on Spotify:**

The fresh faces “rise” to the challenge on the first disc.

Like previous volumes, the mix starts out groovy and melodic, with Jordin Post and Deeparture opening up with a pair of vocal cuts that relax the mind before newcomers ANUQRAM and Avenue One make their mark on the comp. Following a Fehrplay remix of the Above & Beyond’s classic “You Got To Go,” Paavo marks the long-awaited return of his P.O.S. alias with the soothing “Thunder & Sunshine.” Another highlight comes from Fred Falke, who delivers a fun French House take on “Colours” from Mat Zo’s Illusion of Depth.

Midway through the first disc, Jono offers his first contribution to Volume 16 with a housey rework of their breakbeat banger “Screwdriver.” This aptly named rework is inspired by the sounds of the “Summer of ’95” and offers the last light-hearted offering from the first disc.

Turning to the darker side of progressive, Grum’s “Come Alive” from Unreality sets the tone for the second half. Scene veterans Gabriel & Dresden drop an unconventional club cut with the techy and glitchy “Bias.” At the same time, Marcus Schossow (under his āname alias) teams up with BLR and Robbie Rise for the dark and eclectic “Influencer.”

In addition, My Friend and SØNIN return to tee up the final two tracks from disc one. The penultimate track “Eternity” sees new signee Damate show off their progressive grooves before Russia’s PROFF closes disc one with a breakbeat rework of “No One Walks Away” from Jono and Darren Tate’s JODA project.

Anjuna All-Stars get to cooking on the second disc.

With the incredible new talent gracing the label, it’s easy to forget that the Anjunabeats regulars haven’t been sleeping either. The second disc begins with another contribution from āname, a cinematic intro mix of dance music classic “Tears from the Moon.” This track is followed by more fresh faces, including Kasablanca, Harry Diamond, and K-MRK. Meanwhile, ilan Bluestone’s first release since last year’s Impulse sees his second collaboration with electronic music pioneer BT, while Oliver Smith continues his streak of being featured on every single volume of the series.

Anjunabeats 16 also marks the welcome return of one of the labels’ first signings, Nitrous Oxide, with the hard-hitting “Fusion,” as well as our second peek at Andrew Bayer’s Duality (Part Two) with the sonically stunning “On Tape.” The compilation rounds out with contributions from label favorites Maor Levi, Genix, and newer faces OTIOT and Taygeto. We close the curtain with Oliver Smith’s remix of Above & Beyond’s “Gratitude,” appropriately marking the finale of the latest edition of the iconic compilation.