Following the dissolution of Swedish House Mafia, it wasn’t long before the broken ranks reformed by Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso had already won their way back into hearts of millions. “Something New” and “On My Way” were both internationally certified smashes and the duo was piecing together a full-length album following their formal entrance at The Governors Ball 2014. Coming off an Ultra Music Festival high from just a month prior, they were well aware that it was only a mild precursor to one of live entertainment’s most prestigious honors—a headlining slot at Coachella in the spring of 2015. With the California festival’s 2020 anniversary on hiatus until October due to the global coronavirus pandemic, re-experiencing the full hour of Axwell Λ Ingrosso seemed only fitting as the Coachella blues are at an all-time high.
Coachella was the golden opportunity for the duo to officially reintroduce themselves to more than just the dance music market and they did just that on the biggest platform. The live additions made it all the more unforgettable as recent collaborators, Salem al Fakir and Vincent Pontare joined the duo on stage for renditions of the then-unreleased “More Than You Know” and “Sun Is Shining.” While it wasn’t the instinctive progressive house sound that was hailed in the early 2010s, Axwell Λ Ingrosso brought forth a more matured approach that still evoked the same exhilaration that the former Mafia’s catalog had induced in crowds around the world. From rinsing the “In My Mind” remix to “This Time” to the still-unreleased “Bliss,” the longtime friends had made a more than compelling case that they were perhaps at the top of their game at Coachella 2015.
Featured image: Andy Holzman