Sylvan Esso, some of the brightest new makers of music this year, have just remixed “I’m With You,” the leadoff track from Grouplove‘s 2013 album Spreading Rumors. What Sylvan Esso’s electronic wiz Nick Sanborn has done to the song is transformative. That Philip Glass-style piano buildup on the original version? Gone. Snappy rock drums? Gone. What still makes this a Grouplove song are the very distinct voices of Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper.
Zucconi wrote to tell us, “We’re big fans of Sylvan Esso’s album. When we heard through our label that they were interested in remixing ‘I’m With You’ we jumped at the chance. Had a feeling they would kill this, and they did.” What you hear is new territory for Grouplove, but with those two voices leading the way and Sanborn’s twisted textures and beats, I think it will — like all things Grouplove — find lots of love.
NPR Music has followed Grouplove from their start, including premiering “Tongue Tied,” my personal favorite song of theirs. And if you too are a fan and haven’t seen them perform behind my desk, watch this.
And you can catch an entire concert by Sylvan Esso recorded at the 9:30 Club here in Washington earlier this month.
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