Back Up (Love for the Music)

Another one of Deekline & Wizard’s deeper in thought moments. Yes, they’ve always had the ability to pull a breaks-erasing moment out from their sleeve, but there’s still genuine surprise, leading into "is this it?" crabbiness, when they keep their foot away from the gas.

So there’s this, a perfectly preserved pop song with rave stings, frosted pianos, rich vocals as ever from Yolanda and overall feeling of being at one with itself despite a booming system labouring to put itself to good use, going with the previous sleek curves of Angels. The album Back Up Coming Through is now touting itself as a high wire act of artistic versatility and the flame-grilled bread and butter of what D & W have made their name from. Hence, interest levels are already well-stacked; it’s now all down to whether the album’s flow topples or stands strong.
 
Krafty Kuts gives the original a push and pours on some pizzazz without writing off the fundamentals. There’s no chance of this one wrenching the gear stick either, politely sauntering as a half-skanking, electro-pop pick, although as summertime tonic for beach buggies and kit cars, the homework’s certainly been done. If the original feels uncomfortable, Against the Grain’s head boy pours a fizzy shot of assurance.
 
It becomes clear that KK is playing horses for courses and is purposely keeping two versions apart – one for sunset strip, one for the sweatbox - as his club mix gets far stickier and sludgier. Discharging a chuntering bassline scrape chasing its own tail that rocks the place (still with an amount of due care it must be said), this is the version that busts the package open, particularly with a woofer wobble on the breakdown and a generally towering posture.

Bringing the beats to a head and receiving two thumbs up, the bass punishment of both AC Slater and TRG, the former near enough a 2-step heave, the latter showing hardcore abrasion and making a tactical substitution of the vocal, have the original’s dramatic synth flashes cutting space into a pair of jarring rides with flagrant disregard for noise levels. Again, if the original isn’t doing its best to convince, the remix delegation will see you right.