Never Tell Me The Odds is The West View’s first full-band single, which released on February 24. Sonically inspired by nineties anthems like The Life of Riley by the Lightning Seeds and Dreams by The Cranberries, it is hard to ignore the obvious nineties references both in sound and songwriting.

The first remix by Sorry the Hedgehog fits the concept like a glove: Remember the late 90s, when Big Beat took over TV commercials, trailers and jingles, and allocated its space in the remix section of nearly every pop and rock maxi-single? Berlin-based producer Eno, musically socialised in that very century, not only loved the original, but took up the spirit and crafted what could well be imagined a proper B-side remix.

This remix comes as a to-the-point and groove-intense re-interpretation. Sorry’s signature chops and cuts not only show a knack for playful sampling, but also align very musically around the original, using mostly its guitar and vocal elements and re-modelling them, instead of just slamming a beat under it and calling it a day. It is obviously a fun-infused, hip-moving funky breakbeat remix, best served on the dance floor.

Sorry the Hedgehog, known for his versatile, playful approach to other people’s music, aims to bring a darker colour to this summery pop song: It’s a deep blue, to be precise. His remix is more of a re-work, honing much of the structure of the original, and at the same time giving it a rather mature-sounding, cooling edge with a dose of his trademark kinks.

Given Sorry’s track record, the arrangement is surprisingly sparse and clear. The beat is rather simplistic, an ice-cold pad sound and an Erasure-ish arpeggio synth build most of the melodic foundation, while some trance-inducing percussion is meandering in the background – all still placing Wera’s distinctive vocals at the very front. Yet it wouldn’t be a Sorry production if he didn’t twist and play with vocals bits and juggled samples, making it both entertaining to listen and unbearable to not dance to it. Damn, this is a match in heaven!

If you’ve yet had a chance to listen to some of the recent productions of e.no’s second nature Sorry the Hedgehog, you’ll know how much he enjoys sweeping through genres and moods. Few things though seem to be a common ground: An intricate longing for driving beats, an appetite for little breaks and pieces, and a strong notion of fun(k). His more-or-less self-remix for Heads Up! is unarguably a landmark of Sorry’s production craft: You’ll barely ever get to hear how much fun completely disassembling and re-arranging your very own track can be.

Enter e.no’s Heads Up! – it’s a jazzy pop song with a positive, earnest message. No matter how shitty you might be, failing or achieving – you’re good the way you are. But what Sorry the Hedgehog makes of it, is a blatant expression of pure pleasure. He pitches, rewinds, stops, chops, mangles the vocals and instrumental bits of the song in all possible ways, dissects the pop structure of the original to a freakish new interpretation full of tape stops, down- and upwards pitches and sudden turnarounds. You don’t know if you’d rather listen with a broad grin, or simply start dancing no matter where you are. The hard-hitting breakbeat, along with nostalgic drum breaks, funky guitars and split-samples of the original make for a delicate hot Ghetto-Funk-ish meal you could feast on for days. YUM!

Bugger me, is that a dub remix? No, not really, even though Sorry the Hedgehog intended to make it one, rather low-profile. Often catching himself resorting to obvious song structures, e.no shape-shifts into his alter ego Sorry the Hedgehog to overcome his burden. And turns the jazzy Indie-Fusion track into a weird, at times mellow, yet undeniably grooving, echo-laden Indie Dance piece.

The remix starts off as a cascading Ambient piece with airy vocal bits, reversed guitar notes drifting through space, and a diffuse piano pad sitting at its bottom. The haunted, dubby piano loop you’ll hear below most of the remix is taken from the whisper-quiet acoustic Night On Earth Version, and was the actual inspiration for the remix.
But it wouldn’t be a Sorry the Hedgehog remix if not some serious groove and infectious melodies would restrain your lethargy. When you’ve just made yourself comfortable in a laid-back mood, the remix picks up the scent of a more solid, feet-stomping Indie Electronic breed. This is certainly not an anthem, but a clear prompt to dance, and an alternative way of processing the ambiguous ideas behind The City Has You Back. A lot less angry and torn apart than the original, but still lacking the primitive four-to-the-floor simplicity you would claim from a regular House remix.

Sorry the Hedgehog again defies strict genre borders, and allows himself to go wherever the wind takes him. And this time into a melange of an underlying idea of Ambient Dub with a can’t-say-no-sorry funky dance groove that won’t let you go so easily. The city has you back, and that is a good thing after all.