Review: Katie Melua – A Happy Place: The Remixes

    LOVE LOVE LOVE these remixes for the new Katie Melua single, “A Happy Place.” The promo is well worth the price I payed for it on Ebay. For real. The standout by a longshot for me is the Robbie Rivera mix. It’s EPIC and beautiful and very much preserves the beauty of the original song. 2 minutes in is where the magic really starts to happen. That’s when the song EXPLODES into a bangin’ club track. I don’t know what it is about hearing Katie Melua re-fixed for a club that makes me so happy, but this is EVERYTHING I expected and more. Ever since hearing Melua’s first single, “The Closest Thing To Crazy,” I was mesmerized by her voice. It’s got an almost ethereal quality to it that I thought would translate well into the electronica genre. I am almost surprised that it took this long! Hooking up with William Orbit was one of the smartest creative decisions she could have made.

    Katie Melua – A Happy Place (Robbie Rivera JuicyIbiza Mix) by Fool_4_Music

    Katie Melua – A Happy Place (Danny Kirsch Remix) by Fool_4_Music

    Katie Melua – A Happy Place (Product01 Remix) by Fool_4_Music

    I know I already mentioned preferring some of the other mixes to the Loverush UK! mix but upon listening to it again, it’s really not that bad. It does sound a bit more rushed/Katie Melua-on-speed but it’s not altogether a waste. There are beautiful parts of the remix, in particular the use of the songs’ verses. One of my other favorite mixes in the bunch is the Danny Kirsch remix. Kirsch, who also remixed Melua’s first single “The Flood” does a great job here with “A Happy Place,” turning out a very pleasant dance pop remix.  The great thing about this song AND all of the remixes is the very atmospheric quality that both the production and vocals create. The song is VERY haunting and the majority of these remixes keep that quality very much in tact. The Beatnoids and Product01 remixes are the non-dance mixes on the promo. The Product01 in particular, messes with Melua’s vocal making it sound very robotic. Not sure if I’m a fan of that. I’m all about tweaking a song to make it different but Melua’s voice is near perfection in it’s simplest form so no need to play with it too much.  All in all, a pretty solid remix package here. Rivera’s JuicyIbiza Mix is the standout of the bunch but Danny Kirsch, Loverush UK! and Beatnoids all come through in the end.  Check out the video if you haven’t already!

    Check out Katie Melua on the web:
    Official Site (UK/US)//MySpace//Facebook