THESE COLORS DEFINITELY DON'T WASH OUT - THUNDER JACKSON x THE KNOCKS RELEASE BOLD NEW TRACK
I've always believed Disco got done dirty in the late '70s, and perhaps it was justified, I wasn't around to know for sure, but time heals all wounds, and it took 20 or so years for disco music to be vindicated as a genre when taken outside of the greedy coke-fueled record printing presses cranking out disco left and right and saturating the airwaves with the bastardized, disingenuous, diluted swagger that a lot of people came to hate.
Put all that aside now, imagine and really consider the uninhibited, relaxed potentiality of Disco. Birth that single point in time and really open yourself up to the experience where two fuzzy dots in the distance slowly begin to approach and intertwine into a perfect song. It doesn't happen every time, it's rare but it still happens now and then. Thunder Jackson and NYC-based dancefloor Titans The knocks are those two fuzzy distant dots, and their perfect song is their remix of Thunder J's "Colours" aptly named... "Colors.”
Already an excellent song in its own right, "Colours" was transformed into "Colors" by a stroke of genius, and if you haven't heard the original, I strongly recommend you do the following; Go to your musical platform of choice, listen to *Any* of Jackson's songs, like "Led Astray" and then listen "Colours" *Before* you take in the Remix. This is to not only give you a taste of Thunder Jackson in case you didn't know him, but this is also so that you can see why this new release exemplifies everything that a REMIX can and should be.
Sometimes a remix recontextualizes a song, other times -such as this- it brings out something within the song, it coaxes potential energy that was otherwise subdued or dormant within; fully realizing something that the original artist simply could not have manifested on his own.
Thunder Jackson's style is usually marked by a recognizable baseline falsetto backed by a subdued and minimalistic -almost post-modern- dark and ethereal pop sounds. In "Colours", Jackson used his iconic style more sparingly, allowing his vocals to occupy more space in the song in a much more forward and bold presentation, with his falsetto appearing instead like soulful exclamation marks. This is what I believe The Knocks heard and signal-boosted by turning the track into a veritable Dancefloor beast.
What amazes me about the track is how much it elevates Jackson's vocals even beyond the level they were at in the original. That can't just be attributed to tricky musical engineering of expert producers/DJs, but also to some unknowable energetic faculty within the electrifying melodic string hits typical to Disco music, as well as the marching house beat tying it all together. As I said: this remix isn't just some Dj's take on a cool song, this is someone feeling something special and bringing his own creative forces into the mix for a wonderful marriage of sounds.
You've heard the Thunder, now get ready for the lightning strike: Thunder Jackson will be headlining his first few shows in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and he will also be Opening for Chet Faker in an upcoming U.S. Tour. Don't miss it.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based.
I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.