Electronically Yours

Its been 24 long hazy months since EYHQ last got excited by a UK Number One when La Roux's 'Bulletproof' gave us all a welcome break from X-Factor nightmares, R'n'B...and Take That.


London duo Nero have this week claimed the top spot and brought back a touch of euphoric 90's rave with the dubsteppy-pop-crossover single 'Promises'.

Fronted by the impressive vox of Alana Watson and backed up with knob fiddlers Joe Ray & Daniel Stephens, Nero crept into the influential BBC Sound of 2011 at the turn of the year and have just released their debut long player 'Welcome Reality'. Already a big draw on the Summer festy circuit, Nero are set for a headlining slot at the UK's premier electro event Bestival next month on the Isle Of Wight.


Whilst the original single mix is very worthy of your time when viewed as perfect text book pop with calculating hooks and some wonderfully manipulated synth stabs, we instead draw your precious attention to one of the 'Promises' remixes by Skrillex who'll also be packing out one of the tents at this year's Bestival.







Like Nero, Skrillex made his mark with a remix of La Roux's 'In For The Kill' back in 2009 and this 18 year old Londoner has produced a rather blindingly fab remix of 'Promises' with a few dubstep interludes that sounds a bit like two Cybermen having a heated debate over a few spilt pints.






We particularly adore the very brief vocal sample of 'Oh-oh-oh-oh' (that won't make any sense until you hear the mix - it kicks in at 1m.20s). Also wondrous and following potential subwoofer damage - a lovely minimal segment two minutes into the track and a moment to catch your breath.

This is electro editing at its very best and quite rare in this day and age to see a bit of sophistipop remixing reaching out to the masses. Marvelous!

Related links:

Skrillex official blog
Nero official site

This update is dedicated to Russell Brand

Previously on EY... Emika's contender for electro tune of the year... 'Pretend'

Electronically Yours: 2001 - 2011