Entertainment
You’ve Never Heard Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” Like This
Drop everything and listen up
There are few sounds more iconic than the opening synths of Robyn's 2010 smash "Dancing On My Own." It's a sound that has the power to stop a party in its tracks and for four-and-a-half minutes unite everyone with its bittersweet story of unrequited love. People lip-synch it, people belt it out, but one thing they don't do is not be affected by it. Few remixes have come close to holding a candle to the original's prestige, as it's almost too perfect a pop song to remix. But Robyn has never been one to shy from a challenge and, after her immensely successful Body Talk trilogy and two succeeding EPs, embarked on new remix project called RMX / RBN, where she's enlisted a group of boundary-pushing artists to rework key tracks from her career. Obviously, "Dancing On My Own" is among the eight selected tracks.
French music duo Cassius took on the task of remixing "Dancing On My Own." Unlike the other four remixes that have already made their debut, Cassius' stays relatively true to the original. It maintains the catharsis of Robyn's vocals while spinning them over a sparse, electro-funk beat. It's a refreshing take on the modern classic—one that's unexpected and marks a solid direction for an artist with an oeuvre as vast as Robyn's.
"One night, a long time ago, we were playing in Stockholm," the guys of Cassius tells us. "We met this girl who took great care of us all night, bringing us to the best places to dance and have fun. We sang some Neneh Cherry classics in the car and soon discovered that she was Robyn, the singer. Every DJ knows those little moments and little things that light a day on the road. So when Robyn called us to remix one of her songs, we knew it was time to give back. Counting on our chance and her talent, we asked her to send the one song she was thinking about. After one night of basslining, beatboxing, sweating and dancing in the studio, we instantly knew we loved the song in the end," they add.
After witnessing her performing the full project live at her headlining Governors Ball set this year, it's clear Robyn's celebrating the newfound creative approach to her music. It's challenging in that Robyn and her collaborators aren't giving the audiences what they expect, but the reward of discovering new ways to groove and experience her music is umpteen times more thrilling. Be sure to keep an ear out for Zhala & Heal the World's remix of "Stars 4 Ever," when it drops Friday, July 8, along with the official drop of this remix. (We're premiering it today, after all.) You're going to fall in love with Robyn all over again, in a new, electrifying way.