Not a rework, but a transformation is the Sugar Water – Polybit Remix. The song was originally an alternative pop song by Melbourne-based band Okayden and Sydney artist VRDA and it was about the touching, insecure emotions of first-time queer love. Today, along with the arrival of producer Polybit as a part of the team, the song changes to a high-octane drum and bass anthem, but can also be called high-voltage and touching.
The remix is full on since the first beat. Fast pounding drums, crisp synths and pulsing bass pull you right to the dance floor. It will not give you that slow build up but the instant adrenaline rush. But there is something of the original at the core of the kinetic. The song remains to have that feeling of being overwhelmed by the emotion when the desire has overcome you and you start dancing as the closest way of expressing it.
The remix forms more than a party song as well. It provides a separatist, celebratory sounding board through which listeners, particularly queer audiences, can tap into parts of themselves they once thought were secreted away. The vocals that VRDA reworked add another texture to it and merge perfectly with the dense production of Polybit, which is at once dynamic and very intimate.
The most notable thing is the balance of energy that the track takes. All sounds are there to serve a purpose: the drums help you to move your body, and other ambient swirls around like the memory of the first kiss or a shy acknowledging smile. The outcome has been a radical remixing world and incorporation of the globe, communal and individual.
Sugar Water – Polybit Remix is a song that demonstrates how to channel vulnerability into strength and love, so fucking messy, so fucking beautiful and that it should be danced to.
