Electrifying classics

Snorri Hallgrimsson released his latest album ‘Orbit’ earlier this year which Higher Plain Music gave a super 8.5/10 in our review. As with many classical contemporary composers, Snorri has revisited his works to allow four of the tracks to be remixed into slightly different versions. The result is something that is emotive and hauntingly beautiful whilst being different enough to stand alone from the album.

‘Be Still, My Tongue’ is reworked by Slow Meadow, whom I am also a fan of. Slow Meadow takes the melancholy but dreamlike Nordic darkness and layers it up with a different arrangement of pianos and strings, bringing the percussion forward and shortening the piece down. The calming vocal remains untouched and it is just as soothing as before.
‘…og minning þín rís hægt’ was previously a piano only pitter patter but with Peter Gregson’s version is now has a more taut tone as lone lost strings seep through and loud bursts of reversed piano notes pop into your ears as the loudest part of the mix. I adored the original and I adore this version too – the track feels completely new.

‘Still Life’ is remixed by Tom Adams and now has beats and electronica running through it. It’s turned into a symphonic Sigur Ros with a dirty beat and I really love the play on volume in the mix. Sections are so quiet and reverberant that they sound like distant echoes. The closing remix by Luke Howard takes the zen-like distant dwarven chant of ‘Týnd er tunga þín’ and adds droning electronica and ticking percussive synths and percussive rustles around it. Luke often goes for these minimalist remixes and they always take a few listens to click with but when you get into the zone, they are golden.

Orbit Reworked is a lovely bonus for those who fell in love with Orbit earlier this year. Each track is respectful of its origins and doesn’t stray too far from the tree. If you could only buy either I’d definitely recommend Orbit over this EP but Snorri Hallgrimsson fans will be right at home with another journey round the sun.

Recommended track: Still Life (Tom Adams Remix)

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