Back in February, Bay Area songwriter/producer Blackbird Blackbird (real name Mikey Maramag) released the spaced-out R&B jam “There is Nowhere,” the first single from his upcoming album Tangerine Sky, out June 3 on Om Records. Though Maramag reportedly played drums in a hardcore band for six years, the track incorporated wispy falsetto and sensitive lyrics (“I’ve given up everything/ there is nowhere I’d rather be”) that would sound at home in the company of fellow indie crooners Active Child and How to Dress Well.
Now comes a remix from fellow San Franciscan Phages, who fine-tunes the mood without discarding the prettiest elements. His version ups the momentum and smooths out the stop-start percussion, creating a light trance-like effect that bubbles and stutters like machinery running underwater. A chopped-up female vocal that lurked in the background of the original is brought to the forefront; the result is a subtle shift in perspective, skewing Maramag's lyrics ever-so-slightly towards a point somewhere between euphoria and oblivion.
Blackbird Blackbird's Tangerine Sky is out June 3 on Om Records.
