Beatrice Eli’s 2017 The Careful EP was a pretty emotionally open record, but That’s Not Us was its beating heart, a song poised somewhere between ballad and dark electronica that pulled a relationship wide open and wondered what to do with it. The EP’s opening single, the more upbeat, slick dance-pop of Careful made the big initial impression, but That’s Not Us is the one that sticks with you, a stunningly powerful piece of digitalised soul.
Just under a year on from That’s Not Us’ release, the track is getting some fresh attention from two of Stockholm label Cherish’s (a label that aims to boost the music of female and non-binary identifying artists and producers) rising stars. As part of a collaboration between Cherish and Stockholm culture group Trans94, it’s now been remixed by sweeep (whose debut EP Dissapear Here came out last week) and Linnéa (who released a single, So Real, in February). And we’re delighted to bring you the premiere.
On the two remixes, the duo take the track to opposite ends of the stylistic spectrum. Linnéa pulls it deep into her world, ramping up the syrupy sweetness of the production, upping the tempo and hopping in on the vocals to turn the song into smooth, dreamy pop. Sweeep, on the other hand, brings it somewhere else entirely, pulling the basics of the song apart and transforming them. The original track is in there, but in the same sense that there’s a recognisable picture of a person in a Picasso painting: it’s chopped up and rebuilt into something entirely different, born again as spectral, glitching witch-house.
On the song, Eli says:
‘I admire both Dream Linnéa and sweeep’s production styles, they are two unique producers with strong sounds and I love what they did with That’s Not Us. I’m also very inspired by Cherish Label. Evelina [Åslin, label manager] is a force, I feel she’s changing the scene here in Stockholm by providing a platform with soft values in an industry that can be very hard and macho.’
sweeep says of her remix:
‘It was fun remixing her song, since I don’t produce pop I could flip it to how it would sound if it was a sweeep-song. I pitched and chopped the a capella, and created a dark atmosphere around a melody I liked in Bea’s song.’
Linnéa says:
‘Obviously I had to take the opportunity to do a duet with Swedish Queen B, otherwise I would have to demand my own resignation. I guess my version is the same 808 vs mallet syncopation shit I always do, except I added some cute tablas and a berimbau. It turned out pretty neat.’
Check both remixes out below. They’re released on Cherish Label and Trans94 on April 18.