Live Review: El Gusto's remix of Haiku Hands' 'Jupiter' strips it back for a slow, moody banger

24 May 2018 | 10:24 am | Kyle Fensom

On his moody remix of Haiku Hands' new single, 'Jupiter', El Gusto finds versatility in stripping the track back without diluting the energy of the original

It's been established that HAIKU HANDS are well and truly blowing up. In fact, it's hard to recall another act who's enjoyed such an explosive, self-assured entrance. But at the same time, the collective are always blowing outwards, pushing their sound in new directions; where their breakout debut single, ‘Not About You’, was three minutes of relentlessly organised chaos, full of raucous energy, rave-y analogue synth stabs and a snarling attitude, the follow-up single, ‘Jupiter’, presented a more subdued and soft side to the collective. Anchored by a funk-soaked, NILE RODGERS-indebted guitar line, ‘Jupiter’ took the Haiku Hands party out of industrial warehouses and into more pop-centric, disco territory. For a band on just their second single, the versatility and range that they’ve managed to cram into their output thus far validates the feverish levels of hype that they’ve courted.

EL GUSTO (aka one half of HERMITUDE), who helped produce the original, is well placed to uncover yet more versatility in Haiku Hands’ sound on his new remix of ‘Jupiter’. The remix strips the track back even further, injecting some space into the instrumental’s thick production by slowing it down a touch, replacing that guitar line with some moody, atmospheric synths and infusing the remix with a bass line that runs at a leisurely bounce.

But while he slows it down, El Gusto does nothing to dilute the pure energy of Haiku Hands’ performance on the original track. Instead, by retaining the anthemic punchiness and infectious melodies of Haiku Hands’ trademark yell-along, gang-style vocals but directing attention away from the funk of the original and placing more emphasis on the club-ready beat, his remix arguably becomes more of a banger in the traditional sense. “We’re taking off at hyperspeed / Can’t hold us back,” the band repeat in the build-up to the final, soaring climatic chorus. When it rolls around, you realise that with a little help from El Gusto, Haiku Hands have never sounded so gloriously ready for pop stardom. You can practically already hear the thumping, four-on-the-floor beat rattling the cocktails of a mid-summer day’s pool party from here.

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IMAGE: Supplied

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