[PREMIERE] André Obin and Artisan Loyalist remix each other’s songs

André Obin and Artisan Loyalist (the synth-pop project of Rob Batke) have both gained high acclaim for their ethereal and melodic approach to electronic music. Now the two have taken turns remixing songs from their most recent records, adding their own unique flavor to each other’s works.

You can stream Obin’s remix of Artisan Loyalist’s “Light Trail”, as well as Batke’s remix of the dark synth technician’s song “Furth Away”, in the stream below. The songs’ original versions appear on Artison Loyalist’s album Lonely Ghost and Obin’s album Endorphin respectively, both of which are available now via Sky Council Recordings.

Batke had the following to say about his remix of Obin’s “Further Away”:

“The original mix of ‘Further Away’ has an upbeat, yet dark tone to it, and is a great pop effort on André's part. With any remix, my goal is to try and allow something completely different to represent itself within the song. I want to hear what the vocals are communicating all on their own, so I solo’d the main vocal and lead synth parts and played some slow moving piano chords overtop. This allowed for the spacing in the cadence of André’s lead vocal to showcase itself. But, in order for the vocal lines to not feel too distanced from another, I put some reverse-reverb on them to create the swooshing vocal crescendos which highlight nicely in the verses. The slow moving piano and synth pad paired with a half-time drum pattern allowed for André’s vocals and lead synths to shine freely in a different context; André commented how remix felt reminiscent of Vangelis’ ‘Chariots of Fire’, and to which I will gladly accept such a compliment.”

Obin had the following to say about his remix of Artisan Loyalist’s “Light Trail”:

“‘Light Trail’ immediately struck me because of Rob’s lyrical content, particularly the line ‘black veins we cannot seem to keep away, pave them in gold, we're not ashamed’. I had never envisioned the darker industrial side of Alberta Canada where big oil dictates the ebb and flow of daily life. While the original is a beautiful piece of indie pop, I decided I wanted to give my remix a more dystopian and machine-like edge to mirror the lyrical content. I programmed electronic bass, reversed many of the guitar lines for a new and eerie texture, and vocodered Rob's voice using the same technique that I used on the making of my own Endorphin album. It was an honor to remix such a talented artist and I'm happy to share a label with him.”