With myriad releases already on trance music’s most esteemed label, you wouldn’t think that this week, February 13th of 2023, is a monumental step for Shahin Kanafchian and Swapneel Ukhalkar, aka Elevven. But after a long string of incredibly successful remixes on Above & Beyond’s Anjunabeats label, they officially released their first completely original production, an uplifting and anthemic vocal track titled ‘The Distance.” The duo made a splash with their Anjuna debut by remixing Gabriel & Dresden’s “You” in partnership with Myon. The track went on to become one of Above & Beyond’s most popular songs of 2018.
Their success continued into the following year, starting with a remix of 7 Skies’ “Sushi,” which reached #2 on the Beatport Trance Chart and was premiered by Above & Beyond at the ABGT450 set at The Drumsheds in London. They continued to impress with a remix of Above & Beyond’s “Can’t Sleep” featuring Ruben de Ronde, which was included in Fatum’s Anjunabeats Worldwide 10 compilation.
Learn More About Their Latest Anjunabeats Single Here
And to celebrate such a monumental occasion, we just had to invite these guys on to be featured in this week’s artist of the week series. To say they’ve earned it is the biggest understatement you’d like to hear all week. The tracks they’ve selected for the spotlight playlist are an undisputed vibe, ranging from club-friendly bangers by Oliver Smith and Marsh to the softer and delicate melodic of Gabriele Aplin.
Follow The Playlist Below For A Weekly Selection Of Our Favorite Rising Talent’s Favorite Tracks
7 Skies – Sushi (Elevven Remix)
This was one of the most challenging remixes we’ve done, but quite pleased with the result. The original was known for it’s thundering bassline, so we did our best to stay true while updating it for the modern dance floor!
Above & Beyond – Can’t Sleep (Ruben de Ronde & Elevven Remix)
We teamed up with our long-time friend Ruben de Ronde to put a dark, techy spin on one of the all-time classic Above & Beyond records – Can’t Sleep.
Arty feat. Tania Zygar – The Wall (Elevven 2022 Remode)
When we were asked to remix an Enhanced classic for our Digitally Enhanced compilation last year, we immediately opted for The Wall. The catch was that neither Arty nor Tania had the original vocals anymore – so we worked with her to re-record them just for this remix!
Andrew Bayer – Midnight
Bayer has forever been an inspiration, and his latest album Duality is no exception. We have some juicy Andrew Bayer news in the not-too-distant future, so stay tuned for that!
GAIA – Tuvan (AVIRA Remix)
Tuvan is one of my favorite trance records of all time, so we’re absolutely loving this deeper, darker take by AVIRA. It also goes down beautifully in our deeper live sets!
Alex Sonata & TheRio – Breath of the Wild
We’ve been big fans of these gents for a while, and they seem like kindred musical spirits in a way. Breath of the Wild is just one of the great tunes by them recently.
Marsh & Simon Doty – Touch The Sky
We first heard this on the Deep day at ABGT500 – and what a tune. Both Marsh and Simon have been on a tear of the form of late, and this record is no exception.
Marsh & Wassu feat Mariel Beausejour – Forgiveness
Tom Marshall, aka Marsh, is one of our oldest musical friends. Our friendship extends prior to either of us releasing music, and we’re just so proud of him and his latest album Endless. Forgiveness is one of many gems on his latest LP.
SONIN & Oliver Smith – Passion
This track captures the 2010s Anjuna vibes, which will always hold a special place in my heart. Both of these guys are on a great run of form.
Dezza feat EMME – Getaway (djimboh Remix)
This record is a couple of years old now but was one of my standouts during the pandemic. It featured on many of our Twitch streams and was our introduction to EMME, who sang on ‘The Distance’.
Daniel Kandi – Breathe
Daniel has long been a master of uplifting and progressive trance. We were lucky to have him remix our recent single ‘Shallow’, but this is one of his early releases on Anjunabeats which got plenty of airtime on our streams during the lockdown.
Thrice – Stare at the Sun
Thrice are my all time favorite band, and have been an inspiration throughout my entire musical journey. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, they recently re-recorded their album ‘The Artist in the Ambulance’, and it’s well worth a (re)listen.
Dream Theater – Scenes from a Memory
Another band that soundtracked my teenage years, Dream Theater helped drive my journey towards progressive music. ‘Scenes From a Memory’ is one of my favorites from them and features absolutely gorgeous musicality by the band, and in particular, their guitarist John Petrucci.
Gabrielle Aplin – Home
A beautiful folky record that I first heard on the soundtrack to the game ‘Life is Strange’. I’ve been diving deeper into acoustic records of late, and they’ve been a nice balance to the banging club beats! I hope to draw inspiration from these songs and infuse it into our records.
Elevven – The Distance
Although we’ve had many releases on Anjunabeats over the years, this record actually marks our debut original! It’s a melodic vocal song released just in time for Valentine’s Day and like many Elevven records, is suited for the club dance floor.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
