Photo courtesy of the band.
When ‘Arise’ was recorded, Helicon, AL LOVER and producer Tony Doogan made a deliberate creative decision to bring electronic elements, beats and samples into the sound while keeping the feel of a band playing together. ‘Arise Remixes’ takes that collaborative instinct a step further, with the contributors given free rein to choose a song, pull it apart and take it somewhere new.
Speaking about the new single, Helicon’s John-Paul Hughes says: “We’ve never made any secret of our respect and admiration for Mogwai, so to have Barry work on this remix is really cool. He’s come at a pretty dark song about being alone with your own head at night from a completely different angle and found a whole new level of unsettling tension. In a good way, if that’s your thing. Because it’s definitely ours.”
Barry Burns adds: “I’m dead happy with how this remix turned out, and I can’t believe they made a cracking video for it AND gave me whisky. MATES4LYF”
For ‘Arise Remixes’, Helicon x AL LOVER opened the songs up to a circle of friends, artists they have played or toured with, and musicians whose records helped inspire them. Rather than asking for variations on the originals, the brief was deliberately loose: pick a song, pull it apart and do your thing. Seeing that cast gathered together on a HELICON sleeve is, as they say, “pretty humbling.”
Hearing familiar songs returned in unfamiliar forms has become part of the point of the record. “You know your songs inside out, then someone makes you hear it differently,” Helicon say. “It’s amazing and has already begun to shape how we are thinking about our next record.”
Helicon x AL LOVER feels like a natural continuation of a collaboration that began with a remix and helped push ‘Arise’ towards electronic elements, beats and samples. “Since the Helicon x AL LOVER connection started with a remix it’s only natural to have this collaborative project head in that direction,” AL LOVER says. “I see remix culture as folk tradition through the lens of technology. It’s all meat on the same bone and I’m glad to have had this project be part of that lineage.”
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