ART OF SONG
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
“Higher Than The Stars (Saint Etienne Visits Lord Spank Remix)”
Higher Than The Stars EP (Remix 12″)
2009 | Slumberland/Fortuna Pop

Typically, I associate remixes with dancing. Throw the right backing beat on pretty much anything, and it’s guaranteed to make your booty drop, right? Shows what little I know about stuff, dance music in particular, but I’m glad there’s always someone to show me the error of my ways. Today it was Saint Etienne.

In this remix, not so much concerned with packing the dancefloor (if you want a great rock remix to do that, however, I always recommend Tommie Sunshine’s Y-Control remix). Saint Etienne are more concerned with the listener taking a dreamy nighttime journey, one that is sleepy and just-so-slightly disengaged.

It opens vaguely danceable. Over an almost Latin-sounding drum beat, the “tsk tsk slow clap” starts up with some floaty synth. Once the trading of male/female vocals starts, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart eventually let us know that they are “higher than the stars” and personally, I believe them. They are also apparently “in the back of her mother’s car,” so while that may make for a slightly awkward drive home, my guess is that they’re too fucked up to notice. If you, gentle reader, ever find yourself in this situation, my recommendation is that you put on this song and pretend you’re being magically propelled along and not being driven by someone’s mother. You can handle that conversation the next morning, when you’re good and sober hungover.
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