About Mat Zo? The man is a beast. He’s been making waves in the industry for the longest time, and spanning a handful of genres. Only in his Anjunabeats career has he unveiled definitive icons of Trance such as ‘Easy‘ (with Porter Robinson), ‘Rebound‘ (with ARTY), ‘The Sky‘ and ‘Superman‘. His GRAMMY-nominated debut album Damage Control from 2013, sent Mat mainstream, with a BBC Radio 1 A-List addition, a Sirius XM BPM listing, a #1 Billboard Heatseeking record, and an Essential Mix of the year nomination. His latest studio album, Illusion of Depth, came out in late 2020, featuring ‘Colours‘, a track that was placed in the soundtrack for the 2021 racing video game Forza Horizon 5.

‘Closure‘. That’s the name of today’s single. This tune is the spiritual follow-up to Mat’s ‘Easy’, which recently turned 10 years old. Played around the whole world, it was first spun during his Los Angeles ABGT500 set, arguably becoming the most requested ID from his set.

Closure

The track kicks off with a Nexus-sounding arpeggio, slowly fading in a hard beat and a lovely melodic harmony, a harmony to the main lead that’s about to be faded in, also fairly progressively. Then the vocals come in, which, according to Mat’s words, are his own. Get ready for the drop, which brings all the elements together for a hard Dubstep-like arrangement, in the sense of the long elements and the hard snare cutting through it all.

Melodic as it is along the entirety of the track, ‘Closure’ blends all of Zo’s iconic sounds into a perfect mix and shows just how proficient this guy is at acing original compositions. He’s not afraid to spin things in a different direction and mix elements from one genre into another, and that’s what makes him and his sound so special.

The vocal for Closure is me doing my best falsetto. I’m not a good singer, but anyone can sound good after enough takes. It took a whole day just to get it right and even then it took a lot of editing to make it sound okay.

-Mat Zo.

Give ‘Closure’ a listen below! Click on the button for your Spotify play, click here for your YouTube play, or click here to support the song any other way you like.

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Those familiar with the “Anjuna Fam” know that it is an upper echelon of crowd energy. The people are polite, inclusive, and make space. They are often diverse in every sense of the word, and truly there for the music. ABGT500 was no exception.

Group Members Jono, Tony, and Paavo posted their set on Twitter and Youtube for all to re-live and enjoy. You can see the uplifting messages they work in to their sets to help individuals on their journeys. 

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Group Therapy is the weekly radio show from Above & Beyond also known as ABGT. Every 50 shows, the legendary trance trio picks a different country and hosts a live milestone show. There have been hundreds of shows and this year’s 500 milestone was in the city of angels, Los Angeles, California. The group played a sold out Banc of California Stadium on Saturday October 15th to over 20,000 people and streamed worldwide. Support included Olan, Alpha 9 (who announced his new album coming January 13th, 2023 during his set), Mat Zo, Andrew Bayer and Grum.

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The Venue

Banc of California Stadium is a usually soccer stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Angel City FC. For ABGT500 the field was converted to the pit and the turf was subsequently covered with metal floor panels and decorated with florescent tent like structures that are evoke the imagery of the Group Therapy Album cover art.

Along the back of the pit were merch stands and bars where attendees in the pit were able to purchase what they needed — although the lines here were obnoxiously long and there were reports of some people waiting upwards of three hours to reach the mercy stand. The bar lines were quicker, but most people found it easier to go into the the concessions stands and bars under the bleacher seating. It was far quicker that route, and it was where the bathrooms were located anyway.

Despite the congestion. the venue did an amazing job at herding and directing people so that there was always am efficient flow of people and very few bottle necks from entry all the way through the exit at the end of the night. Stadium seating was comfortable and the pit was never too crowded. The crowd was always pleasant and like almost all Anjuna shows, extremely nice and polite.

The Show

All of the artists on the lineup took advantage of the large screens, bright lighting set up, and lasers. Each set built up the next and the love for both the fans and each other could be felt from the stage. There was a warm up set that Above & Beyond did in Venice that was live-streamed and later posted to Youtube and other streaming platforms since the doors of the venue were not yet open. Between each set, Paavo, Tony and Jono took turns coming onstage and introducing the artists on their label. It was quiet a touching and heartfelt moment. The energy was nothing like I had seen before from a show of this scale. It was all extremely focused and positive, where as in some settings at festivals or large stadium event, it can be chaotic and stressful.

There was a noted change in direction of Above & Beyond’s live set and sound in this milestone show, a new clubbier and deeper” anjuna tech” sound which has been rather polarizing of late amongst Anjuna fans. The set also features new vocal ID’s from their long time collaborators Richard Bedford (Sun & Moon/Thing Called Love vocalist), and Zoe Johnston (We’re All We Need vocalist). They also debuted a new Jason Ross track “A Place They Call Home.” Overall there was 16 ID’s which is a massive tally and worth noting.

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You can also stream the set on Spotify and Apple Music.

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The first single off  the forthcoming album came out on October 7th. ‘Calling’ is a collaboration between ALPHA 9 and Brazilian DJ and producer Scorz, featuring vocals from multi-instrumentalist singer songwriter Tom Bailey. The track sits somewhere between melancholic and uplifting, exploring the intersection between progressive trance and pop electronica. Bailey’s clean vocals paired with ALPHA 9 and Scorz’s deft songwriting skills creates a production that has already proven to enthral crowds at peak time on a packed out dance floor.

Scorz is a long-time friend of Armada music. With over 380k monthly listeners on Spotify, his melodic, upbeat tracks push musical boundaries and transcend genres. Armin van Buuren’s a fan – he made Scorz’s debut track ‘Come To Life’ his Track of the Year in 2020 – and Tiësto, Hardwell, Nicky Romero, Vintage Culture, Robin Schulz, and many more artists have supported Scorz’s productions during their sets. This is the Brazilian artist’s first time collaborating with ALPHA 9, however with ‘Calling’ it’s clear the pair’s synergy is palpable. 

Musically speaking, there’s not much Tom Bailey can’t do. He’s a multi-instrumentalist producer, writer and performer, and a graduate of the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. Some might recognise him from his You Tube channel – he’s the founder and creator of Tom Bailey Backing Tracks which offers backing tracks to aspiring writers, singers and jammers. Bailey’s credited on dozens of songs across multiple genres, totalling over 80 million Spotify streams and seemingly the same amount of fans. 

The collaborative element of ‘Calling’ is representative of ‘New Horizons’ itself. All three artists have different musical backgrounds, which brings fresh energy and perspective to the writing process; a theme that chimes throughout the album. 

“This is a new chapter. I’m very confident in the direction I’m taking this project. This new album is a journey through the beginning of ALPHA 9’s artistry to now.”

— ALPHA 9

‘Calling’ with Scorz feat. Tom Bailey is out now on Anjunabeats.

‘New Horizons’ is out on Anjunabeats on January 13, 2023

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The Grammy-nominated trio of Jono, Tony, and Paavo worked on this volume from their London Studio. This mix will be a showcase of their groups direction for the next 18 months. The mix is out today, July 22nd, and is available for streaming here. A&B also has a new single ‘Projection’ available for listening here. 

A&B will be playing at the Gorge in Washington State this weekend; and will have their 500th Group Therapy session in Los Angeles this October. 

The complete track list for Anjunabeats Volume 16 is below:

Disc 1

Jordin Post feat. Dan Soleil – Deserve You (Intro Mix) 

Deeparture feat. Belle Doron – Brake 

ANUQRAM – Get On 

Avenue One -Upstairs Terrace 

Above & Beyond feat. Zoë Johnston – You Got To Go (Fehrplay Remix)

Mat Zo – Colours (Fred Falke Remix) 

P.O.S: – Thunder & Sunshine 

Laura van Dam – This Love [Anjunabeats]

Sunny Lax – Dragonfly

Above & Beyond – Screwdriver (Jono Grant’s Summer Of ’95 Mix) 

Grum feat. Sarah Appel- Come Alive 

Gabriel & Dresden – Bias 

BLR & aname feat. Robbie Rise – Influencer

My Friend – Came Here For Love 

SØNIN feat. Lewyn – Waterfall 

Damate – Eternity

JODA – No One Walks Away (PROFF Remix) 

Disc 2

Conjure One feat. Sinead O’Connor – Tears From The Moon (anamē Intro Mix) 

Kasablanca – Dream About You 

Harry Diamond & K-MRK – Knuckle Bones

ilan Bluestone & BT feat. Caitlin Charters – Run

Above & Beyond feat. Marty Longstaff- Chains (Above & Beyond Club Mix) 

Vintage & Morelli – Crossroads 

Alex Sonata & TheRio – Breath Of Wild 

Oliver Smith – Make Me Feel 

Jerome Isma-Ae & The Weekend Heroes – Left To Hide 

Nitrous Oxide & Simon Gregory – Fusion 

Andrew Bayer – On Tape

Maor Levi & OTIOT feat. EL Waves- Mhondoro 

Genix – Ba55 Island

Above & Beyond – Projection

Taygeto – Borealis

Above & Beyond and anamē feat. Marty Longstaff – Gratitude (Oliver Smith Remix) 

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“Thank you, Group Therapy 500 is now sold out!” Above & Beyond shared on social media on Wednesday. “We’ll see you in LA.”

While ABGT500 is no longer available on the official website, there are still some passes for Anjunadeep Open Air. That takes place at Christmas Tree Lane at Exposition Park on October 16.

Biggest Milestone Celebration

Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamäki, the founders of the Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep record labels, have hosted their Group Therapy Radio show every Friday for nearly a decade. Marking 500 episodes, ABGT500 Los Angeles will be the band’s biggest milestone celebration yet. Above & Beyond will play two sets. Stay tuned for the complete lineup.

The Banc of California Stadium show will add to the trio’s deep connection with the City of Angels. They have previously sold out venues including the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theatre, the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Forum, the Shrine Auditorium, and the Hollywood Palladium. Tens of thousands of Anjuna fans also gathered for Anjunabeach SoCal in Huntington Beach in 2018.

The final ABGT500 destination packages with floor tickets, and Anjunadeep Open Air tickets, can be purchased here.

If going to ABGT500 Los Angeles is not an option, Anjunafamily can catch the group’s other massive shows this year. They include Group Therapy Weekender at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington, from June 22 to 24, and Group Therapy Weekender in London, September 10 and 11.

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There hasn’t been an ABGT event on the West coast, so this is truly exciting. Not one, but two days of music from esteemed trance and progressive house artists. It is anyone’s guess as to where the venue might be. At first, some speculated the Banc of California Stadium or SoFi Stadium. Now, with the news of an outdoor venue, the mystery continues. Who would you like to see on the lineup?

A&B have been hard at work. Finishing off their Anjunafamily Reunion Tour last year and keeping us up to date with new ABGT episodes to stream. What’s more is they’ve even played at Red Rocks, Tomorrowland, and celebrated 450 episodes of Group Therapy Radio at the Drumsheds. Their next stop is Pride in New York. As we continue to move through the months of this year, a lot of exciting events are coming down the pipeline.

In addition, Anjunadeep will host Open Air Los Angeles the following day, October 16th. Lineups for both shows will be announced soon. Presale begins Tuesday, April 26th at 10am PST. Mark your calendars, grab your crew, and get ready for some trance. Check out the trailer below.

Stay tuned as we wait for the lineup and venue announcement!

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