Saturday Flashback: Alan Walker – Faded (Tiësto’s Northern Lights Remix)

“Suddenly seems a lot more exciting”

Tim: Last Saturday you pointed out that Roger was a rather mundane name for a singer of a great song, which in turn reminded me that one of the biggest dance tracks of the year was by an act with a name better suited to a middle aged accountant than to a superstar DJ; I then discovered that there are TWO remix EPs of said track, and this here’s a good one.

Tim: You see, I love the way that plays with the speed there.

Tom: That’s a rare technique: I’d expect my brain to reject it for being different, but no, somehow it works.

Tim: I cut to forty seconds in because for some reason the YouTube version gets going at the high speed, which kind of spoils it – when I first heard it it took me quite by surprise, and I was tied between “oh, this is weird” and “oh, this is brilliant”, and I very soon came down on the side of the latter. I don’t know if it’s the novelty of it – I certainly never felt the original was too slow – but it suddenly seems a whole lot more exciting, and I love that.

Tom: Admittedly the synth pads sound a bit like they’re from 90s eurodance, but you know what? I like 90s eurodance. I like this.

Alan Walker – Sing Me To Sleep

“Is it too harsh to call it basically the same song?”

Tim: So Faded ended up being a lot bigger than any track from an act called Alan Walker had any right to be. Sticking with the same vocalist, here’s the follow-up.

Tim: And…is it too harsh to call it basically the same song?

Tom: A bit harsh, certainly. Why do you say that?

Tim: The same synths, the same gentle vocal going into a suddenly calm first half of a chorus and the second half of that with the volume control going all over the place.

Tom: And I really dislike that “dip the synth for the drum hit” effect, by the way. Almost hurts to listen to, no matter whether it’s a deliberate choice or just overcompression.

Tim: See, I think that’s the main similarity – it’s just such a distinctive one that it’s hard to focus on anything else. Because yes, there are differences, of course there are, but I can’t help feeling that six months down the line I’ll have trouble hearing one of the tracks and confidently identifying it. On the other hand, if your debut was a big hit you’d be an idiot to mess with the formula for your immediate follow-up release, and it is a tactic that got Avicii two number one albums, several awards and an amazing LA apartment, so why not?

Tom: Worked for Kygo, too. Although this does seem different enough to me — I absolutely love the quiet pre-chorus, although the rest of it sort of slides past me without really making an impact. Why isn’t that “sing me to sleep” melody the main line? It’s the best part of the song.

Tim: Either way, it’s just as enjoyable the second time round, so I’m all for this as long as we have a bit of variety sometime soon please.

Alan Walker – Faded (Restrung)

“Take a seat, love, everything’ll be alright”

Tim: First there was Fade; then there was Faded. Now, we’ve an orchestral version that’s been released separately; I wouldn’t normally bring a remix of a track we’d already featured, but (a) that original really was fantastic and I’ll take any opportunity to bring it up and (b) just listen.

Tim: Because it completely changes the song. Yes, the melody’s the same, and the vocal’s not even been re-recorded, but it’s suddenly gone from being a big pumped-up jump around floor filler to a relaxing, “take a seat, love, everything’ll be alright” track.

Tom: It is: that’s a really good orchestration. The fact it’s been released by the original artist is a big point in its favour too. It’s not all that big a genre switch given the state of the original, but it’s done well.

Tim: What that mood switch may state about the point of the lyrics of any particular song is up for interpretation, but somehow it’s just as wonderful. Strings, piano, full orchestra, all beautiful.

Tom: But here’s the thing: I wanted just some percussion. Not much, not the synth patches of the original, but a little timpani roll here, or some subtle drums going into the final big chorus would have worked well. Even some other instrument in the lower frequencies would have worked. Without it, it feels a little anaemic — still good, but not as good as it could be.

Tim: Incidentally the (still uncredited) vocalist is called Iselin Solheim; we’ve not featured her here previously, but she’s got some great tracks in her back catalogue.

Alan Walker – Faded

“It’s like 2010 got some slightly updated synths.”

Tim: Norwegian producer Alan had a bit of success about eighteen months ago with Fade, an instrumental dance track; now he’s gone and done an Avicii on it, presumably hoping for similar levels of success.

Tim: And I do like that a lot, actually.

Tom: Crikey, it’s like 2010 got some slightly updated synths. I’m not sure whether that’s an insult or not, though, because it’s really quite listenable.

Tim: I agree – very listenable indeed. It appears to be tricky, adding vocals onto a track that was originally designed as an instrumental – the places you’d put the attention-seeking chorus are the ones where you’ve already got the attention-seeking main dance melody. Like Bromance, though, a very good compromise seems to have been made, and this works really, really well.

Tom: I’m not a fan of the compression that’s on there as they try to fit everything in: there’s some weird volume-fading going on that’s unfamiliar enough to my ears to sound like error rather than deliberate choice. That said, it might just be coming into fashion and I haven’t heard it enough: that’s what I thought about dubstep.

Tim: Ah, dubstep.

Tom: Huh. What happened to dubstep? I remember it being The New Thing We Didn’t Like, and then it was The Current Thing We Enjoy Now, and now it’s The Old Thing We’re Not Using Any More.

Tim: Oh, I’m sure something equally divisive will come along soon enough. Back to this, though, and weirdly the quiet piano line bits on this remind of me exactly the same song that Bromance reminded you of – Lisa Miskovsky’s Still Alive. Whether that’s coincidence, deliberate theft or possibly even homage I don’t know, but I do know that the more I hear it, the more I love this track, and here’s hoping he does succeed.