91/100
Putting aside the huge cloud of critical praise around it, Illenium’s Awake album from last year is truly an incredible journey of emotions. “Crawl Outta Love” is easily the most recognizable record out of it, being the last of the singles released out of it and having been Illenium’s astonishing intro for half a year when mashed together with Hans Zimmer’s legendary Inception OST Time (check it at Coachella and Seattle).
The one feat that puts “Crawl Outta Love” on a higher pedestal than all the other Awake songs must be the surprise win at the International Songwriting Competition last year, a worldwide competition for musicians whose prize is considered an outstanding feat in the industry.
Now Illenium can claim to be one of the names in the star-filled list of artists that got remixed by L.A. sensational group The Glitch Mob. After making official remixes for huge acts such as Daft Punk, Linkin Park, The White Stripes and Bassnectar, the group worked their artistry on Illenium’s iconic vocal ballad.
For those who are not familiar with The Glitch Mob, Boreta, edIT, and Ooah (and formerly Kraddy) are a glitch and synthpop live group who’s rocked the Las Angeles electronic scene for the past 6 years, incorporating their trademark live instrumentation in their sets, where they give life to awe-inspiring mixtures of dubstep, hip-hop, and rock music. (Fun fact: you might have heard their remix of Seven Nation Army on the trailer for Battlefield 1)
The remix kicks off with some glitchy leads and sounds, all aiming to one dubstep climax during which Annika Wells’ voice (one of the very best out of the albums in my opinion) gets elevated to the point it doesn’t even sound human anymore.
And then, the break. Some drumsticks kick off the massive building-up phase of the song sounds exactly like a summer action blockbuster soundtrack would do. Pulsating, powerful drums accompanied by rising leads that transpire tension lead you all the way in another huge vocal build-up for a similarly huge drop.
You can feel the love for experimentation that is a trademark of their production ethic. “For us, music is more about the process than the final piece of work”.
The drops have little emotion left in them, favouring instead a heavy bass approach that actually gives a more dancey feeling than expected when paired with Annika’s repeating hook.
This is the strong point of the remix: the original is a hymn to leaving a relationship, but the remix’s vibes belong to completely different realities and express energy, power, and epicness without making listeners unsatisfied one bit. Great damn job, one of the most solid tunes of the year so far even 2 months after its release.
Check out The Glitch Mob’s third album, “See Without Eyes” and be sure to not miss their live concert during their global tour where they unveil their new stage, “The Blade 2.0”.
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