UK duo Two Shell, as soon as well-known for going towards the grain (doing an interview then deleting it from the online; prerecording a DJ set then allegedly having it carried out by decoys) have just lately settled into one thing resembling normalcy. Now, they play huge competition phases and launch comparatively mellow dance music, with the sugar rush of their earlier hits slowed down into midtempo grooves and uncanny vocal hooks. Final 12 months’s album-not-album IICONS, product of music from their stay units—together with some performed on the Glastonbury stage of the identical identify— changed the shock of the brand new with the nice din of the acquainted: unusual, however not stunning. Now, their newest restricted launch (what they’ve referred to as a “bonus album”) reconsiders their comparatively subdued 2024 self-titled LP to supply one of the crucial common and anticipated issues an digital act can launch: a remix album.
With a handful of recent tracks alongside a slate of remixes, t҉w҉o҉ ҉s҉h҉e҉l҉l҉ is extra like a grab-bag of goodies than an album correct. And a few of these goodies are fairly rattling nice. The discharge is definitely worth the Bandcamp worth alone for the brand new model of “Everyone Worldwide,” an EDM makeover of the unique reduce that hitches an Eric Prydz-style sidechained piano riff to the Two Shell wagon. Initially hinted at in the long run of the unique tune’s video, this fully-fledged model could be essentially the most easy Two Shell observe but. The boldness appears to be like good on the duo, outlining their pop instincts with thick Sharpie as an alternative of letting them blur into vague neon shapes as they did on IICONS.
The opposite new tracks, confusingly labeled “ᵛⁱⁿʸˡ,” are inconsistent. For each lovably goofy second (like when a crunchy digital guitar riff breaks out in “good day it’s me” after a voice shouts “let’s go”), there are uninspired workout routines like “in my coronary heart ᵛⁱⁿʸˡ.” That one is a flimsy piano ballad the place the duo’s method to vocals—strangled, swirled and gasping—comes off extra annoying than progressive, like a joke that isn’t humorous anymore. The deliriously completely happy, French house-y “levitate” (subtitled “ᵒʳⁱᵍⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ”), is a significant spotlight, but it surely’s not even a brand new observe; it’s really from 2023. It’s adopted by the mumblemouthed “do u like me? ᵒʳⁱᵍⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ,” which is so flighty and random that it appears like the results of typing “Two Shell cutesy home jam” into an AI tune generator—an aesthetic concept desperately in search of a hook.
Some remixers come to the rescue. Planet Mu affiliate Ship Sket’s gurgly, EDM-inspired textures are a pure match for Two Shell, and his model of “good day it’s me” feels like the unique being compelled by a sieve, guts and gasps effervescent out of unseen corners. SWARMM’s uneven remix of “harm anyone” has extra oomph than the unique. Facta and Tamaranamen each flip Two Shell tunes into cutesy, Dntel-adjacent electronica, the previous’s low-end strengthened with a rough-around-the-edges-bassline and the latter with a quivering lead that feels like a music field. These remixes, with precise pressure between their textures and eager melodic interaction, stay as much as one of the best of Two Shell’s work higher than the duo themselves today. However the different remixes, even by distinct and proficient producers like box5ive, are unremarkable: They really feel like pale imitations of PC Music, all twitching percussion and blandly chirpy vocals.
