In advance of their upcoming European tour, The Knife announce the release of remixes of “Stay Out Here” and “Ready to Lose” from their “Shaking the Habitual” album. Click here to listen to and share the Kane Roth remix of “Stay Out Here.”
This is what the remixers have to say about the tracks:
Tama Sumo / Tarantism – “Ready to Lose”
“Instantly upon hearing this track, especially the lyrical content, we were really excited about remixing the track. We are great admirers of The Knife as artists, we are also extremely impressed and fully support their political stance. We fully support any endeavour that highlights the issues that threaten humanity. There is simply no place for racism, homophobia/transphobia and sexism.
After listening many times to the lyrics, we had a brain wave and thought how brilliant it would be to have a female choir with women from different backgrounds singing those lyrics as the message was powerful and universal. Needless to say, that idea was quickly left behind – financially and logistically it looked difficult.
Ari had been a friend all this time and so we had recently been so excited when we heard her stunning and powerful voice and we immediately thought to continue on this idea of taking these universal and important lyrics and getting her in the studio. We were also fascinated by the fact that Karin and Ari come from completely different backgrounds and yet they share the message. Ari came and laid down the vocals. There was such a great energy amongst the three of us that before you knew it we were all working together towards the entire remix.”
Paula Temple – “Stay Out Here”
“I felt the message deeply strong in the lyrics, so the remix had to be extremely powerful, focusing around the lyrics ‘Lose A Wall, Love Me’ and pushing all the energy and intensity into this action. I distorted the vocals and the percussion bursts to near disintegration like they are breaking down walls.
But when I finished the remix I couldn’t stop. It is the way Shannon and Karin sing together in the song that I felt compelled to make another version. So for the second remix I focused the intensity in a more fun way, imagining The Knife fans dancing like crazy at one of their concerts. I had to feature Shannon’s magnificent voice as the launch to the craziness about to come and then I went wild with tons of percussion and elephant sounding synths to sound like a stampede. After all, it takes a lot of energy to lose these walls we build.”
Kane Roth – “Stay Out Here”
“The first time I listened to the original track, my thought was, this is a truly amazing piece, the best remix I have ever had to do. I always find it very inspiring working with great sounds that are not mine. I’ve found this project quite challenging and exciting. I was divided by a little fear and a powerful emotion, a little fear can lead you to do your best.
I did several versions but when the track sounded more dark and techno, I started to be satisfied with the remix. My idea was to make the track accessible to DJs but at the same time to stay true to the song. I wanted to combine their synth and the vocals with some percussions, a deep bass and a special groove that fits well with the synth.”
The Knife have only two dates left for their final tour. See the dates below:
Nov 06 – Brixton Academy, London, UK – Sold Out
Nov 08 – Iceland Airwaves Festival, Reykjavík – Buy Tickets