TGIF: Here's John Talabot's Gorgeous Remix of Jamie xx's 'Loud Places'

Premiered on WNYU’s Beats in Space radio, here is a great remix of one of the best songs on one of the best albums of the year, from the quietly excellent Barcelona DJ/producer John Talabot. I love the original “Loud Places” for its sense of synthesis—at first, the heartbeat pushing the track forward is barely audible, matching Romy’s diffuse reticence as she sings about looking for love. From Hua Hsu’s review:

“I go to loud places / To search for someone / To be quiet with / Who will take me home,” Smith’s xx bandmate Madley Croft sings softly. It’s a gorgeous reminder of why some people go out in the first place: so they never have to go out again.

Then the chorus kicks in, unexpectedly and briefly, like someone’s hand gripping hard on your ribcage, something flaring to life around your heart—and then it disappears into the next percussive verse, a look exchanged across flashing lights that gets swallowed up into them. The bridge comes on cue, the vamp of Didn’t I/ I take you higher twisting hope and doubt on top of each other, and then that last chorus, where we’ve found what we’re looking for.

It’s a journey. John Talabot’s remix starts you two-thirds there but stops you shorter, an A/B twinkle and pulse propelling you forward, beautifully, towards a payoff—the I have never reached such heights refrain—that never comes.