Album Review: The Horrors - Higher

Higher isn't so much a remix of The Horrors' 2011 record, Skying, as it is a total reinvention. This isn't just a case of throwing some bass in the back and a synthy drone up front; Higher feels like the band entrusted the stems of their tracks to a select few who in return presented a renewed take on the songs. Some are straightforward reworkings, while others are complex to the point where they barely contain a trace of the original music.

The core of Higher seems to be taking the earworm parts of The Horrors' songs and making them the central focus, turning almost every song into an even trancier tune than previously thought possible. Daniel Avery's remix of Monica Gems is the perfect example, spending its entire six minutes looping the original guitar riff. Elsewhere Connan Mockasin takes Still Life and turns it into a minimalist funk disco number that strangely works, despite it teetering on comic mockery. It doesn't hold a candle to the brooding Faris Badwan vocals, but it's interesting to hear a new perspective so far removed from The Horrors' aesthetic.

The glaringly obvious problem Higher faces is that of continuity. Like most remix records it suffers as a consequence of its chop and change nature; one minute dub, the next echoing electronics. Thus the record is best viewed as a curation of sorts, The Horrors presenting their songs as they'd like to hear them recreated by artists of their choice.