Above & Beyond Reignite the Spark With Lost Gem “Start a Fire”

There’s something about Above & Beyond that makes nostalgia feel like prophecy. With “Start a Fire,” the British trio once again taps into that uncanny emotional register where memories meet momentum—and they’ve done it with a song that almost never saw the light of day.

Pulled from the dusty corners of Paavo Siljamäki’s archive and reanimated by Tony McGuinness’s long-forgotten lyrics, Start a Fire is less a song than a time capsule cracked open at the perfect moment. There’s a very particular kind of intimacy in hearing a piece of music that was once lost. It’s like overhearing a private conversation that was meant to stay locked in a notebook. And in this case, that notebook happened to contain one of the most potent lyrical hooks the group has released in years: “There’s enough of you in me to start a fire.”

The reunion with longtime vocal collaborator Richard Bedford makes the track feel like a homecoming. His voice—weathered, yearning, endlessly melodic—has become the emotional spine of many of Above & Beyond’s most cherished tracks, and here he carries that legacy with the gravity it deserves. Bedford doesn’t just sing the line; he inhabits it, tracing the fault lines of a relationship that once burned bright and maybe still simmers.

Above & Beyond have always had a way of threading heartbreak through euphoria. Their best work lets you dance through your tears, and “Start a Fire” fits that mold. It’s an aching, slow-burn reminder that even songs forgotten by their creators can still find their moment—and when they do, they carry the weight of every year they’ve been silent.

With their upcoming album Bigger Than All Of Us set for release this July, “Start a Fire” signals not just a return, but a reckoning. Some songs take ten years to find the right voice. Some voices, like Bedford’s, never go out of style. And some fires, no matter how long they’ve been out, just need the right wind to burn again.