Steve Angello and Axwell are part of the informal group of producers known as the Swedish House Mafia who have championed the looping-a-hook-from-a-past-hit-and-add-a-fresh-beat technique that has been a major staple of dance charts for the past few years. Recording as Supermode they bring together two of The Bronski Beat’s biggest hits of their Jimmy Summerville-era in a mash up twist to their formula as vocals from the chorus of “Why?” float over the timeless groove of “Smalltown Boy”. My friend Glenn who introduced me to synthpop and the enigmatic genre of "Modern Rock" was a huge fan of "Smalltown Boy" which actually put me off the track, released in the US last year, for some time because I didn't see the need for yet another remix a classic song. However the combination comes across far more fresh musically speaking than you would expect from such familiar material and the juxtaposition of the two songs creates a conversation about the boy “pushed around and kicked around” for his sexual preferences as it asks why it is still relevant some twenty years after “Smalltown Boy” was first released:
: The soul behind the record The Bronski Beat called it a day shortly after their own 1994 re-recording of "Smalltown Boy". Jimmy Sommerville left the band long before that and is still around making music as a solo artist with his site noting upcoming tv appearances. Synth master Steve Bronski is also plugging away and has a very messy myspace that notes his recent production duties for my friendly online acquaintances The Garland Cult (I've exhanged emails with the singer before so you know we're tight).
Supermode, at least on paper, appears to be a one-off project that fits in the pattern of Steve Angello "mode" projects like Mode Hookers and General Moders but Axwell's site reports that as of last month "me and Steve are progressing with the new supermode". Apparently they are searching for the right vocal so don't hold your breath waiting for an album because source material this strong is hard to come by.
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