We're interrupting the boy band-esque ballad special in an attempt to snap me out of my mild obsession, though today's group is still, as promised, from Sweden. Roxette is one of those groups I am sure I should know more about, but with a back catalogue so huge, it's so difficult to know where to begin that I've not even tried yet; as a result, my familiarity with their work is extremely shallow, basically consisting only of knowing a few of their big hits (say, "The Look" and "It Must Have Been Love") and a few songs from places like
#1 Hits From Another Planet,
Spark*Pop, and
Catchy Tunes of Sweden. However, when I saw the tracklisting for their newest single, I was intrigued: a single mix of "Reveal" (the original version was on their most recent greatest hits); a remix by one of the people behind the much-raved-about "With Every Heartbeat," Kleerup; and the remix I'm posting today, which is by the Attic, a group I'm coming to admire more and more. My first exposure to them was through a remix of Darin's "Who's That Girl," which I loved exponentially more than the original (and posted back in July or so), but at the time, I had no idea the Attic were a group, let alone that they'd done other songs. I later grabbed their remix of A*Teens' "I Promised Myself" from
Catchy Tunes of Sweden, and enjoyed that, too, though I still hadn't made the connection that they were an actual group. When I heard their own songs, though, I had to buy their album, and I've not for one moment regretted it; I definitely recommend buying
The One if you haven't yet (you can get it
here). Their collaboration with Therese for this year's Melodifestivalen is in my top four from the contest, too, so I'm definitely eager to see what they do next.
Reveal (The Attic Remix)--unsurprisingly, the remix ups the tempo of the single mix, but it's still not exactly super-fast. The somewhat exotic opening of the single mix is taken as inspiration for the Attic's own bit of exotic flair. We also get, in very typical The Attic style, electronically processed voices and echoes, which make the song more playful. Some of the sadness of the single version is lost, but, despite the generally happy electronic beats, there's still a feeling of loss, or maybe giving too much, or something not quite joyful, that creeps in occasionally. That might be overstating it a little--it's certainly much happier and more hopeful than some of the other versions; I think what I'm trying to get across is that this is no storming dance remix nor incredibly boppy happy pop song, but it is great.
To buy Roxette's single "Reveal," go
here (physical) or
here (digital; you'll have to search for "Roxette"). The Kleerup remix is more melancholic and atmospheric, adding strings, and you'll also get the single mix.
Next up: possibly a return to the special, but maybe not; either way, I'm sad that it's the first Friday for a while that there won't be new Melodifestivalen songs.
