For every Above & Beyond fan, there is a track Richard Bedford provided vocals for that is easily their favorite. It’s really hard to quantify the man’s voice without having an extremely emotional response. When Richard was replaced with Alex Vargas for the first acoustic album, and the subsequent later release of the Above & Beyonds album We’re All We Need, it lead to a flurry of rumors that there was a falling out between Richard and the group. We can’t confirm that any of those rumors were true, but what we do know is that Richard Bedford is providing his amazing vocals yet again for the Acoustic II album which is set for release next week (June 3).
As with the original acoustic album, all the tracks in it are re-imaginations of original Above & Beyond tracks. It’s something very familiar yet, very different. Especially given the landscape of electronic music. This time Richard is back with his timeless hit On My Way To Heaven. It’s a heavly jazz influenced reinterpretation with that quintessential big band feel that we have come to love from the Above & Beyond Acoustic series. It’s something that you might find slip between the sheets to provide the orchestral accompaniment from a James Bond opening credits scene. Have a listen for yourself.
For now, we are not sure if there will be other tracks with Richard Bedford. But it is promising. So for now we will just let this be our perfect rainy day on the couch music while we snuggle up to the ones we love. We can only hope that you have the opportunity to see one of these shows live somewhere in the US. We at DMNW have gone far and wide to see it ourselves, and all we can say is “WOW!”
Will you be getting out to any of the acoustic dates? Let us know if you are or what you think in the comments below.
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