Above & Beyond expanded the boundaries of trance when they delivered unplugged versions of their music on the albums Acoustic and Acoustic II, trading synth arpeggios for strings and fingerpicked guitar; they go one step further on Flow State, an album designed for yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. Self-care is of utmost importance in the DJ world, where hours are long and stress runs rampant, and the UK trio’s answer is to ignore the dance floor entirely—at least for a short, blissful while. Fusing acoustic instruments, wordless choir, and shimmering beds of synthesizer, tracks like “Great Falls” recall the dreamy uplift of chamber-ambient greats Stars of the Lid, while “Slow Buchla Sunrise” sinks into more purely electronic timbres. Five tracks with yoga and meditation instructor Elena Brower invite deeper contemplation: “Every hardship is here to teach us how to dance with this life,” she says at the beginning of “Night Flight.” Flow State is an invitation to examine our inner selves and emerge stronger on the other side.
Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 3
- Luttrell
- Yotto