Phoebe Bridgers has shared three unique remixes of her song “Kyoto” with fans.
Following the confirmation earlier this August that she will be featured on Taylor Swift’s upcoming reimagined Red album, Bridgers has now released these remixes.
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All three participants, Bartees Strange, Glitch Gum and the Marías, bring their own style and sound to the song.
“Kyoto (Bartees Strange Remix)” takes the track in a completely new direction while still keeping true to its emotional perspective. It also heavily features Strange’s own vocals instead of just reworking Bridgers’ original recording.
“I wanted to find a way to make this song hit in a completely different way but still retain some of the big and small moments that make the song special to me,” Strange says in a press release. “At first I was thinking through how I could use the stems, but the more I got into it, the more I wanted to take it somewhere else entirely. Crushing tune. Glad I could mess around with it.”
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The next remix takes “Kyoto” into an entirely different genre: hyperpop. Glitch Gum, best known for his catchy songs in the genre, including the TikTok famous “NEVER MET!,” was in class one day when he decided to remix Bridgers’ song.
“I thought, ‘Man, what if Phoebe Bridgers did hyperpop?’” he says in a press release. “That idea turned into a 30-second snippet of ‘Kyoto,’ which turned into a full song, which turned into working with Phoebe and her team to make this little quarantine project come full circle in ways I could never even fathom.”
Glitch Gum worked to craft a seamless crossover between hyperpop and Bridgers’ indie stylings with this remix.
“It was so fun deconstructing the musical realms of both Phoebe and I and combining them into something that filled the hyperpop-indie-crossover-shaped hole in my brain,” he says.
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The Marías close out the new remixes with their take on “Kyoto.” Their reimagining focuses on slower vocals and reverberating synths that add a mesmerizing layer to the sound.
“I remember seeing Phoebe years ago at an open mic here in Los Angeles, and I knew right off the bat that she was really special,” the band say in a press release. “Working on this remix was a full-circle moment for us. ‘Kyoto’ is an amazing song as is, so with the remix, we were just curious to see what it would sound like with the vocal slowed down and adding some of our favorite synth sounds behind it.”
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Let us know which of the three new “Kyoto” remixes is your favorite in the comments below!
Phoebe Bridgers tour dates:
09/03 – St Louis, MO @ The Pageant
09/04 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
09/05 – Louisville, KY @ Iroquois Amphitheater
09/07 – Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre*
09/08 – Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre*
09/10 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
09/11 – St Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre*
09/12 – St Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre*
09/14 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee*
09/15 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre*
09/17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE Outdoors*
09/18 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live*
09/19 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore*
09/20 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz*
09/23 – Dover, DE @ Firefly Music Festival
09/25 – New York, NY @ The Governors Ball
09/26 – Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion*
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10/02 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/03 – New Orleans, LA @ The Orpheum Theater
10/04 – Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company
10/09 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/16 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
10/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
10/24 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees
10/26 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
* with support from MUNA