Above & Beyond’s Tony McGuinness Is Releasing a Rock Album Recorded 30 Years Ago

by Michael Ryan · Published July 3, 2024

Above & Beyond's Tony McGuinness was not always an international headliner.

Before he struck gold in the trance realm with bandmates Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamäki, McGuinness was a rock-and-roll artist inspired by legendary acts like Steely Dan and The Beach Boys. Those inspirations led to the creation of a solo rock album, Salt.

Despite working on nine tracks for six months, after he finished recording the album, he'd lock it away in his archives for close to 30 years. Now, after two decades of success with Above & Beyond and their label Anjunabeats, McGuinness is finally ready to unveil Salt.

McGuinness this week released the album's lead single, "Biker Bibe." T he combination of his bittersweet, romantic lyricism and sun-dappled guitar riffs will remind you of those summertime drives where your parents picked what was on the radio, long before the days of Spotify.

[embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=QoHOL-v5kjc[/embed]

"Biker Babe" was inspired by a short-lived romance with an American girl in the 90s, according to McGuinness. He said the story he wrote saw him placing himself and his muse into the world of David Lynch's television show Twin Peaks.

"Which is where the mention of The Roadhouse comes from and ran with that all the way through to the ending," he explained in a press release. "I knew she was gonna have to go back to America because she had no visa, and she had a flat in America that she didn't want to lose."

McGuinness also shared another new single, "Babydoll White," which may sound familiar to fans of Fingerprint, his deep house side project. He remixed his unreleased rock single for Anjunadeep back in 2020 and now, with help from Bob Bradley, fans can experience the sounds of the 90s in its original format.

Fans can pre-save Salt here.

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