Alicia Keys reimagines iconic hit for 'Bridgerton' prequel

At the famous Abbey Road Studios in London to present a special selection of songs recorded in spatial audio for Apple Music, Alicia Keys revealed another upcoming project: a reimagining of an iconic hit for Netflix's upcoming Bridgerton prequel.

“I’m doing a brand-new reimagined version of If I Ain’t Got You with a 90-piece orchestra with women of colour and it is incredible,” Keys said.

The song from 2003's The Diary of Alicia Keys will feature in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which premieres May 4. The new version will also be out on spatial, “if you can imagine 90 pieces swirling around you” Keys said.

Spatial audio allows the listener to experience a theatre-like surround sound; Keys took the original raw files from her songs to re-record and remix. She will release eight spatial audio albums April 28 on Apple Music.

“This is my first time at Abbey Road,” Keys exclaimed excitedly, before playing six of the newly recorded tracks to a small group of music industry insiders.

“It’s a real re-imagining of all the songs, all the music, all the tones, all the vocals, all the instruments,” Keys told the audience before playing some of her hits including Girl on Fire and No One.

In an interview after the event, the 15-time Grammy award-winning singer shared her experience listening back.

“While I was sitting there with y’all in there listening, I’m like, ‘Man, I hear those horns. I hear the piano back here, I hear strings over here.’ I forgot strings are in there. You know, you’re hearing things that you hadn’t heard before," she said.

While Keys embraces the latest technology, when she thinks back to early memories of consuming music, it’s vinyl that holds the biggest place in her heart.

“I think there’s something very special about the tactile feel, you know, having a physical item," she said. "There’s still so much love for that.”

And as well as enjoying discovering her mother's vinyl collection, she also remembers one specific cassette that inspired her.

“I was definitely listening to Marvin Gaye's What’s Going On on this one white cassette that I’ll never forget. That’s what opened so much of songwriting to me,” she said.

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