Song Of The Day #189 // Laki Mera: 'How Dare You (Part Time Heroes Remix)'

Glasgow based Laki Mera stand up in their own right as an inspring act – their dark-hearted take on trip-hop influences fronted by the angelic pipes of Laura Donnelly deserve far greater acclaim during a time where the likes of The XX are being scattered internationally as groundbreaking melancholy merchants. ‘How Dare You’ was already a stand out track from their recent Clutter EP on Just Music, with its Reznor-esque sinister backdrop of synthesisers and Twin Peaks lounge atmospherics. But it’s this Part Time Heroes rework that has gone on to emphasise just how wonderfully diverse the band’s sound is.

Taking Donnelly’s prose of misled sexual activity and putting it onto a lighter background brushed with double-bass plucks and jazzy splash drums gives the song a new level of charming naivety, acting as a brilliant rebuttal to the darkness of the original. The striking similarities with some of Four Tet’s older remixes for the likes of Sia and Bonobo are no bad thing, either – if anything, using such a template for a track like ‘How Dare You’ makes complete sense given the beautiful, melodic harmonies that Donnelly wields throughout. It’s the intricacy in dissection and reinterpretation of Laki Mera’s sonics that give this rework its affable charm and allow it to supersede any such plagiaristic ideas. A song perfect for a crisp, wintery morning and a beautiful thaw to the freeze of the nights that precede it.

Laki Mera: ‘How Dare You (Part Time Heroes Remix)’