My relationship with Karen O's music is like a ride-or-die love—one that has become so personal that I feel as if I would trek across the continental U.S. to get my hands on any of her records, in a lyrical, non-invasive Manifest Destiny type of way. It's a sentiment I find most great people share, especially after the release of her last album, Crush Songs. The LP was written and recorded from '06 to '07, a time when O "crushed a lot," and revealed a softer side of herself than we had seen before. As she wrote in a handwritten statement in the album, "They are the soundtrack to what was an ever-continuing love crusade."
Today, O is releasing a limited-edition Valentine's Day vinyl (because her CD just didn't seem to be cute enough with its handwritten musings and illustrations). While the promise of even just a listen to the raw tracks via an old fashioned record player is enough to make the world collectively swoon, she's also giving us a special remixed version of her breakout song "Rapt" by TRZTN, formerly of NYC noise outfit Flux Information Sciences, on the B side.
It's a far cry from the original, which I previously described as "an addictive willowy track with a simplistic, daydream-inducing melody," yet just as refreshing in the completely opposite way. Whereas "Rapt" was lo-fi, vulnerable, and emoted a hazy pre-alarm clock vision in just about every way possible, the TRZTN version is meticulously treated upbeat disco-inspired electronica best suited for pre-loading sessions and post-dawn escapades. Karen O herself concurs. "Crush hard on the dance-floor with this flirty RAPT remix by my Brooklyn bruiser buddy TRZTN," she says. "Do I need another habit like you?"
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