It’s not like Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen” didn’t bump or groove or move or jive before because it totally did. It was an alt-rock meets Italo disco hybrid that showed affection to 80’s art rock and was immeasurably danceable on its own. That was, of course, until Soulwax decided to get their experimental hands on the single.
The group, whose beating heart is made up of the Dewaele Brothers of 2manydjs fame, is notorious for reworking tracks into winding, escalating works of art that border on electro-infused disco insanity. This is the aesthetic for their remix of Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen.” Opening with a supernova of arpeggios paired with Kevin Parker’s psychedelic vocals before sidetracking into DFA-style dance punk rhythms that mimic the spirit of the openness of the big city by way of early morning stupor and candor, Soulwax’s remix encourages frantic movement. The edit then delves deep, as if it was invited by Steve Zissou to accompany him into the briny deep inside a cozy submersible, ferrying listeners through nebulous rapture capped off with cinematic finesse. This is a remix that’s definitely more about the journey than the destination; payoff isn’t served immediately by the Dewaele crew. They know it. We know it. And everyone can agree that they’ve boiled it down to a science. Listen to the Soulwax edit of “Let It Happen” below.