Want your music to really engulf you? Get your ears around these immersive Dolby Atmos-powered tracks
Unlike stereo sound when that was first developed, spatial audio came to prominence in the blink of an eye. Now it’s (literally) all around us.
As we said in our feature detailing everything you need to know about spatial audio when using the Apple AirPods Max, Apple’s spatial audio technology for movies and TV shows is “superb”. “The whole presentation is very open, spacious and convincing, and the tracking is amazingly smooth and accurate as you move your head,” we noted.
And although spatial audio for movies and TV is still an Apple-device exclusive, the firm’s Apple Music proposition is definitely not limited to its AirPods or Beats headphones. Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos-powered spatial audio technology for music works with any headphones, streaming from both Android and iPhone devices. There is now also compatibility with the HomePod 2 and HomePod mini smart speakers and Sonos’s new dedicated Era 300 spatial audio wireless speaker.
Apple Music now has thousands of spatial audio tracks, but which ones showcase the technology at its best? Take a look at our selection.
Weaver of Dreams by Freddie Hubbard (1961)
At its core, jazz is the interplay between musicians – the way the players and instruments weave around each other in direct reaction to what is being served. Here, Hubbard’s iconic trumpet continually toys with our left ear while drum strokes underpin everything he’s got to say in our right. Expect Blue Note saxophones plus keys behind you, and a melancholy bass over by the kit; you are right in the middle of the action here. Want to close your eyes and pretend you’re onstage at Birdland in the mid-’70s? Go right ahead. You’ll have to sort your own Manhattan though.
Haule Haule by Sukhwinder Singh
(2008) As this slinky, tango-meets-Hindi-Geet track evolves, voices, strings and an accordion surround you. If it feels as if you are being carried into the dance break of a raucous street party in a joyous Bollywood flick, good, because you are – the Hindi language song is part of the soundtrack to the Indian romantic comedy movie Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, composed by Salim–Sulaiman.
The message is uplifting (be patient, wait for love and good things will come), the time signatures are challenging, and for danceability as well as immersion, it’s a stone-cold 10.
Drive by R.E.M. (1992)
The lead single from R.E.M.’s eighth studio album Automatic For The People was
