Following on from her superb 2021 album, and the recent revelation of a remix of her work by the late Lee "Scratch" Perry (his last piece of recorded music), Dot Allison is today releasing an EP of remixes from an array of impressive artists. The offering, The Entangled Remix EP is out today and it's the sort of thing that's worth the wait for those of you who have been following along as the bits of the material that have been shared so far.
What's here on The Entangled Remix EP is a space-y and spacious re-imagining of the gentle, nearly baroque pop of Heart-Shaped Scars. I'm generally a cynic about remixes, and only a few times in my life have preferred a remix to the original (that "Think About the Future" remix of "W.F.L" comes to mind), but these cuts are essential. Saint Etienne's rendering of "One Love" opens the tune up into the sort of atmosphere last inhabited by the Cocteaus circa that "Otherness" EP, while Lee "Scratch" Perry's stab at "Love Died in Our Arms" finds the skank that seems to have been hiding in the dance-rock. Elsewhere, Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre adds a John Barry-ish sense of drama to "Cue the Tears", one of the loveliest cuts from Dot's last album proper.
I'm sure there might end up being folks who hear these remixes without having first loved the originals, and I think that's likely fine. These stand on their own, and they showcase Dot Allison's voice and compositional strengths in fine fashion. Like the best remixes, these bring out the greatness that was already there, rather than mask it or muffle it. The tone and mood is different, but this will sit nicely next to the quiet grace of Heart-Shaped Scars, and serve a separate purpose of, if not make Dot's new compositions dance-able like her older classics, at least make it stuff you can groove to, losing yourself and shutting out the world's grimness at the same time.
The Entangled Remix EP is out today via SA Recordings.