Somebody Got Tech Housed! Fisher, Chris Lake, and Sante take on the pop hit.
76%Overall Score
• Energetic bassline
• More of an edit
• Short duration
Streamed over a billion times and more, “Somebody That I Used To Know” from Gotye and Kimbra has held a niche spot of becoming tremendously successful thanks to its avant-garde composition and unforgettable vocals. Surely plenty of remixes and edits have spawned since the viral record came out in 2011— many generic and a handful few decent— and we have another interesting take, one that takes an unusual route. One that involves tech house mainstays, FISHER and Chris Lake with Sante Sansone, a rising name in the underground circuit.
So what have these three been up to recently? Most might remember FISHER’s modern twist on Bob Sinclair’s house classic “World Hold On,” which topped the Beatport charts for several weeks. His last year’s joint effort “Atmosphere” (with Kita Alexander) also received a similar reception. And as of lately, we covered Chris Lake’s newest endeavor: remixing The Chemical Brothers, which we liked plenty. Sante Sanson, hailing from Italy, has developed a hot formula for raw, gritty tech house and reserved releases on Toolroom, Glasgow Underground, and Saved; to name a few.
“Somebody (2024)” opens up with the classic guitar strum from the original, with hi-hats and kicks joining right after. Gotye’s vocals take over this sparse groove, but that’s not all; abruptly right after the intro verse is finished, a vicious and pumping bassline invades with a funky riff; unexpected but exciting. Later, Kimbra’s vocal comes up over the drop as the main chorus vocals, in the company of the recognizable instrumental melodies run beside the zesty low-end we just talked about.
What results is a tantalizing club edit— an edit more than anything else, using the most grabby portions of the actual song and laying it over the beat. A shorter duration also confirms this, as this version lasts seconds after two minutes.
Perhaps “Somebody (2024)” didn’t need an official release; similar unofficial ideas are floating around the internet, albeit this being unique to an extent and justifying the presence of the reputed names behind the idea. Sure it will click with most listeners, but maybe falling short of creating a lasting impression on them.