There are many approaches you can take when making a remix. To some, it’s the art of tweaking the existing composition, possibly extending the work for the dancefloor; to others it’s wiping the slate clean, composing something entirely new with a unique stamp pressed onto a few original features. Both can work wonders, but more often than not, artists are treading a careful balance between these approaches to find that magical middle ground.
When Switzerland’s answer to Tame Impala, Bumblebees, approached us about remixing a track from their fantastic debut album, Dancing Dots in the Dark we were utterly transfixed by the opener, Above the Ocean. It’s genuinely one of the best contemporary indie-psych tracks we’ve heard – mesmerizingly brilliant and the kind of song you wish you’d written yourself.
It’s been a goal of ours since we started out to find a way for dream pop to make its way onto the dancefloor and Above the Ocean felt like the opportune moment to prospect this synthesis, so we carefully introduced a limited selection of parts from the original track – a rush of reverse guitars and Bumblebees’ angelic vocals and set these to our own melancholy template: enveloping Rhodes chord progressions and crisp drums to create a fitting soundtrack to our imaginary sun-soaked slow disco.