Matthew Herbert has been playing this self-made remix of Jamie Lidell’s ‘When I Come Back Around’ (originally from Lidell’s 2005 album ‘Multiply’) out as a bootleg for the last several months, and now it’s finally seeing an official 12” release on his Accidental Jr sublabel, backed with a brand new Matthew Herbert track. What’s particularly interesting is that Herbert’s source material for the remix hasn’t been the original album track, but instead a live reworking Lidell performed on Los Angeles radio station KEXP back in 2013.
Whatever the case, it’s certainly an extensive rehaul of the original track, recasting things as a rattling Latin house excursion that sees Zero dB-esque distorted bass bursts prowling beneath moody minor key pads and flexing percussion fills, Lidell’s vocals being shifted from the centre spotlight and left to trail ghostlike through the mix. If the aforementioned track manages to deftly fuse flexing tribal house atmospheres with an eerie tech-y feel, on the B-side Herbert’s ‘Megaphone’ gets more stripped-down and angular, sending bleeping electronics floating over a backbone of gritty hi-hat rolls and muted kickdrums while vaguely Detroit-tinged pads float in the background, adding a soft-focus veil to the darker textures that grind away beneath. Those seeking a good dose of Matthew Herbert’s more dancefloor-centred excursions are well catered for by both of the impressive tracks on offer here.
