Au Revoir Simone – Night Light

I’ve always been of the opinion that a remix album is a bit of a bold move, but in the case of all girl Brooklyn trio Au Revoir Simone letting a hand-picked selection of artists loose on their album Still Night, Still Light has undoubtedly paid off. A quick scan through the musicians invited to work on Night Light (see what they did there?) and I know it’s a winner before I’ve even turned the stereo on… Neon Indian, Dam Mantle, Montag, Aeroplane… They’ve even got Jens Lekman onboard.

Neon Indian’s opening remix, ‘Another Likely Story’, sets the bass ridden tone for the rest of the album, with exotic melodies and epic soundscapes aplenty. It is nicely placed alongside the beautiful ‘Shadows’, which features Lekman’s trademark layering of orchestral melodies with simultaneously uplifting and heartbreaking vocals. It bears a striking resemblance to the beautiful ‘Arms Around Me’, and has rightfully earned its place amongst my favourites.

Dam Mantle mixes ‘Knights of Wands’ with a smattering of his habitual retro computer game noises in a blippy mix of bass and synths. Whilst it’s not among his best remixes, the strength of Au Revoir’s original song carries it through. Along with a couple of the remaining songs on the album, a little of the band’s delicacy and haze is lost beneath obtrusive percussion; yet whatever the songs lose in folky grace, they make up for in dance-floor filling heady beats.

Deradoorian’s ‘Only You Can Make Me Happy’ is a happy little ditty that somehow flawlessly mixes choral echoes with bone-shattering bass – something I haven’t seen done in a fair while. It possibly epitomizes the ethos of the album: to blend together the innocence of Au Revoir’s lyrical beauty with the dirt of some Warehouse worthy beats.

The album ends with a bonus track from Aeroplane: an alternative mix of ‘Another Likely Story’, which is without doubt my favourite discovery of the summer, and has kept me company on many a long car journey with my handily programmed repeat button. Its ‘80s upbeat computer generated sound, along with the slightly ill-timed vocals mean it is a smile inducing, foot tapper at the very least. Tropical melodies and alarm tone interludes bring to mind the confidence of Passion Pit’s ‘Little Secrets’. Should it have been included on the original track listings or does the moniker of bonus track do it justice? The jury is out on this one…