Sun & Moon — Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford
Richard Bedford’s voice, extra production by Andrew Bayer and a Northern Soul dancer in the video: the story of Above & Beyond’s “Sun & Moon”.
- Lead single from Above & Beyond’s second album, Group Therapy, released on Anjunabeats in March 2011.
- Sung by Richard Bedford; produced by Above & Beyond with Andrew Bayer.
- No. 6 on Billboard’s Dance Airplay chart; re-recorded for the 2014 album Acoustic.
“Sun & Moon” is one of the trance songs that crossed into the wider canon of dance music. Above & Beyond released it in March 2011 as the first single from Group Therapy, with Richard Bedford on vocals, and in 2024 Billboard’s staff placed it on a list of the best dance songs of all time.
Above & Beyond and Anjunabeats
Above & Beyond are Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamäki, based in London. Grant and Siljamäki set up Anjunabeats in summer 1999; the group’s name came later, from a remix of Chakra’s “Home”. Their radio show, Trance Around the World, ran from 2004 to 2012, when Group Therapy Radio took over.
Writing and recording
The song is credited to the three members with Justine Suissa and Sorcha Shepherd. Above & Beyond produced it, with additional production by Andrew Bayer. Richard Bedford had already sung with the group on “Alone Tonight” in 2006, and he also sings “Thing Called Love” on Group Therapy.
Release, charts and video
Anjunabeats released the single in March 2011 in a 3:08 club mix, a 7:51 extended club mix and the 5:25 album version, with remixes by 7 Skies, Dennis Sheperd, Distance, Seiji and The Others. It reached No. 71 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 11 on the UK Dance chart and No. 6 on Billboard’s Dance Airplay chart. Group Therapy followed on 6 June 2011, with Ultra Records handling the US release a day later. With vocals by Zoë Johnston and Richard Bedford, and Tony McGuinness himself on “Black Room Boy”, the album reached No. 49 in the UK and No. 163 on the Billboard 200, and seven more singles followed, the last in February 2013.
The video, directed by Ferry Gouw, cuts between a man’s memories of a failed relationship and a club where he dances his way through it. The dancer is Steve Cato, from the Northern Soul scene.
From the club to the concert hall
The group kept coming back to the song. Acoustic, released by Anjunabeats on 28 January 2014, includes it as track six, in a 4:48 version, alongside other songs from Group Therapy and Sirens of the Sea. In 2017 Bedford and the group released “Northern Soul”, which earned a Grammy nomination.
In the mix
For DJs, the extended club mix is the one to play: almost eight minutes, with the vocal as the payoff. Keep digging with Tiësto, ATB and deadmau5’s “Strobe”.
FAQ
Who sings Sun & Moon by Above & Beyond?
Richard Bedford, a singer-songwriter who also sings on Above & Beyond’s “Alone Tonight”, “Thing Called Love” and “Northern Soul”.
When was Sun & Moon released?
In March 2011 on Anjunabeats, as the lead single from the album Group Therapy, released in June 2011.
Is there an acoustic version of Sun & Moon?
Yes. It is track six on Above & Beyond’s album Acoustic, released on 28 January 2014.
