Seba: Remix (Blu Mar Ten / John B)
Secret Operations

Remix, Sebastian Ahrenberg's latest Seba single, revisits his Identity full-length from 2013 for tasty treatments by John B and Blu Mar Ten of two of the album's tracks. Issued on Ahrenberg's own Secret Operations imprint, the new versions emphasize the poppier side of the Seba equation. The A-side's “Nothing Can Replace” still sounds as euphoric as it did two years ago, and the smooth croon of Kirsty Hawkshaw remains powerful, too, especially when bolstered by John B's progressive-styled makeover. It's a hard-hitting belter for sure whose synth fire and beat slam swell to a feverish pitch as its five minutes advance. Blu Mar Ten brings its customary tasteful sensibility to its “Too Much Too Soon” version without sacrificing the anthemic shoegaze roar of the original—it and the remix both elevated by Swedish vocalist Little Jinder's (Astrid Maria Josefine Jinder) soaring voice—in the process. In both cases the remixers put their own stamp on the material without losing the essence of Seba's material.

May 2015