Album Review :
Kye Kye - Young Love Remix EP

The likely reason that Kye Kye’s Young Love Remix EP is such a horrible failure is that it flies in the face of the philosophy that made the rising stars’ debut one of the most notable releases of 2011. Where Young Love thrived on its organic atmospheres, Remix EP sees the Washington quartet milling their songs through an electronic dubstep grinder. But even without the atmospheres Young Love would have still been a satisfying release; Kye Kye here have completely “remixed” the songs to such a ridiculous extent that the new versions sound more like joke renditions than an actual release. Absurd synth beats and extreme auto-tuning make Remix EP a project to definitely pass on.

First track “Broke” is one of the biggest offenders, completely butchering what was before a terrific song and making a mockery of Olga Yagolnikov gorgeous, breathy vocals. “Trees & Trust” features heavy vocal distortion that I believe was intended to sound bleak and desperate, but instead comes off as silly and obnoxious. Curious, too, is the fact that Young Love did make occasional use of auto-tune effectively to legitimately add mood to the songs, leaving one to think that Kye Kye would have the ability to maintain this delicate balance. Such is far from the case. Here the band has blown up the electronic editing to such a degree that I doubt even fans of electronic remixes could find things to their taste.

The remix of “Walking This” is perhaps the only track that stands up to the original by maintaining most of the poignancy of the original song and keeping the synths to a relative minimum, though there are a few moments in which the vocal effects do come in to ruin things. For the most part there is a general sense of homogeny to the album, and not in a focused way. It’s clear that these remixes were all done in the same style and generally deviate from the original formula in the same, painful way. Thankfully, at least, Kye Kye left out some of the most tranquil songs on Young Love like “Rooftops” and “Peace Song,” a favor not given to some other notable tracks, such as “My Sight.” Whenever it seems that a pleasant moment is being experimented with on Remix EP, a senseless synth effect is usually just around the corner to spoil it.

Overall: Thankfully this is just a side EP that (hopefully) is not indicative of any new material or direction. You can easily skip out on this one, fan or not, but those new to this incredibly talented group should check out 2011’s Young Love.

RIYL (for Young Love): Bon Iver, Eisley, Sigur Ros, Future of Forestry