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Spatial audio is one of the funnest features of the AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and Beats Fit Pro/Beats Studio Buds, and if you have Apple Music there’s plenty of music in this format to fill your ears with more every week.
Spatial audio technology delivers a type of surround sound inside your headphones and earbuds, so you can hear audio from every direction. When it’s good it’s great, and this week’s new Spatial Audio releases are great showcases for the technology – and more importantly, great music experiences in any dimension.
Don’t have Apple Music? Discover the best music streaming services that deliver the spatial audio treatment. If you’re looking to upgrade your audio tech, be sure to check out our guides to the best headphones and best wireless speakers.
Apple Music Live: Burna Boy
Burna Boy’s London show in June 2023 was the first time an African artist headlined a stadium show in the UK and was filmed by Apple. With guests including Stormzy, J Huss & Dave and Jamaican singer Popcan, it’s a funky, joyous and charismatic performance from the most streamed Nigerian artist of all time on Apple Music worldwide and the most streamed artist in Nigeria.
As always with live music, the spatial audio helps create the feeling that you’re actually there, rather than just streaming the show. Combination of crowded atmosphere and huge bass sitting on top of the world is very fun.
Taylor Swift: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor’s recent releases have embraced spatial audio with mixed results. On their folky Lockdown albums, it added a welcome sense of space and location, but it felt a little less necessary on the more electronic Midnights. Here, on the latest in his series of re-recordings—the original recording of the still-country teller Speak now came out in 2010 – it adds more acoustic tracks such as space dear john (Taylor’s version).
Disclosure: Alchemy
Has it really been a decade since we first met Disclosure and saw their scribbled-face promo photos for their debut album? It is, and it’s a return to form after a record-breaking few years that delighted fans but didn’t win over critics so easily. And this album could’ve been made for the best AirPods: its production is filled with charming little details that are well suited to truly spatial audio – sun showers There is a main attraction – and very little a cappella some day Very beautiful thing.
According to Pitchfork, “for the first time, it feels like they’re listening to what’s happening in clubland and asking themselves what they can bring to the table, rather than what they can achieve for the charts”.
Spice Girls: Spice World
Here’s one for pop kids of a certain age, especially – if my sociability is any indication – Gays and They: The Spice Girls’ 1997 album, their second, is full of irreverent pop that includes Spice up your Lifemotown-esque stop and epic saga Viva Forever, Its spatial audio variation adds some extra fun: be careful! Gerry is after you!
Lewis Capaldi: Broken by the Desire to Be Heavenly Sent (Apple Music Edition)
The more we see of Lewis, the more we love him: The Scottish singer-songwriter went viral earlier this month when his various tics — Capaldi has Tourettes — prevented him from singing at Glastonbury and the crowd took over, and his Netflix wars-and-all documentary is a fine watch. But it’s on record that Capaldi really shines, and the spatial audio production on the orchestral version how i feel now this is wonderful.
Mahalia: IRL
Some of the best spatial audio music is one where the musician has room to breathe, and that’s the case with this beautifully layered collection from Neo-Soul: if you’re looking for instant audio gratification, skip straight to track six, november,
There’s serious star power here with guest appearances from Stormzy and JoJo, but Mahalia herself steals the show: She may only be 25 but her voice sounds far more ancient and powerful. Clash Music says, “This is a great gem among her recent releases.” Meanwhile, The Irish Times says the music “ostensibly swings between the dreamy skip-hop skitter of songs like Wassup and In My Bag and the soulful, hazy jitters of November (a lovely duet with a raucous Stormzy) and Loose Loose”.
