Following up on Island Hill‘s breathtaking ‘Strangers In Paradise‘ album, released in February 2023, long-term collaborators John Digweed and Nick Muir have released a set of remixes for the second single from the album, titled “1000 Lives.”
These two new indie-dance-inspired reworks offer a unique perspective on the band’s inimitable pop-leaning sound, and they follow a string of Digweed & Muir remixes of the same ilk, for the likes of Underworld and New Order, amongst others.
The Red Axes Remix of “Killer of Fate” that accompanied the album release in February was incredible.
The album: Stranger In Paradise
‘Strangers In Paradise‘ is a ten-track album that is full of vintage synths, blues guitars, and trippy electronic themes. It was formed out of the ashes of Typhoon Lingling, as well as the 2019 ‘typhoon parties’ on the South Korean island of Jeju, which is where the appropriately titled Island Hill trio first met.
After the album had been in production for three years, it was purchased by John Digweed of the prestigious Bedrock Records, and the collective celebrated their first release on the label. This was a significant accomplishment for any electronic music group.
John Digweed and Nick Muir remixes
In their cover of the next single to be released from the album, “1000 Lives,” John and Nick provide us with an edit that is unquestionably groovy.
They highlight legendary funk riffs and acid-laced synth-work, transforming the measured original into a dreamlike realm that is influenced by 80s pop. They play on the soothing vocal lines of Island Hill’s blissful counterpart by adding brilliantly trippy vocal chops and an irresistible bassline.
This duet is tethered to the roots of Island Hill’s blissful counterpart.
The British duo also provided us with a Dub mix that is as bass-fueled as it is celestial, removing its appealing vocal section to reveal its enticing web of synthesizer subtleties. This serves both to demonstrate the track’s worth for the dance floor and to fully realize the track’s potential for use in clubs.
Bedrock Records has recently made available Island Hill’s 1000 Lives along with remixes by John Digweed and Nick Muir.
