Following on from his sophomore solo album, World Within, which is made up of indie dream pop, Nik Brinkman has remixed his own song, Heavy World, creating the tight electronic reimagining you can hear below.
Having spent years in bands, publishing and touring with the likes of Beach House, Ladyhawke, and Foster The People, as well as writing music for other artists, Nik Brinkman has returned to the relative simplicity and authenticity of guitar-based music. Those acts — particularly Beach House and Ladyhawke — can be heard, respectively, in the original and remixed versions of Heavy World.
Taking the central refrain from the original, Nik’s remix re-filters the melodic hook from Heavy World’s chorus, giving it a new life here, set against lightly processed vocals and warm, elastic bass. The result reminds me of Neon Indian’s blend of indie pop and electronics, particularly on their underrated Era Extraña album. This is music that sits at the perfect intersection of electronic, indie and pop, creating a blissful, psychedelic blanker of sound. Towards the end, Brinkman’s vocals and layered and looped as distortion and synth swallow the listener whole, creating a wonderful feeling.