Without any fanfare or warning, Calvin Harris decided to post a new remix out of the blue on his Soundcloud for his track with HAIM, "Pray to God" from his recent studio album Motion. The remix, done with old-school DJ Mike Pickering, is a very different take from what we might expect from the radio savvy Harris.
The remix flips the track completely on its head. Harris and Pickering open up the high-hats and strip back the pop-synths in favor of classic house piano and a groovy bass line. The vocals from HAIM are kept, but they are chopped up and pitched to work with the vibe of the song.
The remix is named after the infamous and now closed Manchester club The Haçienda, which was one of the first places in the U.K. to play dance music with by DJs like Danny Rampling, Pickering and Paul Oakenfold. It was known as a sweatbox with an open dance floor, low ceilings and parties that lasted well into the next day with drugs flowing. The U.K. summer of love in 1988-89 was the height of Haçienda and its influence on the immersion of electronic music into British culture.
Mike Pickering currently works as an A&R within Columbia Records with Calvin Harris, but back in his DJ days he worked at Haçienda on the infamous "nude" and "hot" nights, which could get a little out of hand, if you couldn't tell by their names.
We have seen a lot of big name EDM acts try their hand at the new trend in deep or future house to try and hop on the bandwagon. One could blame Harris for doing the same, but adding Pickering's name to the track gives it an authentic sheen against the already original sound. Listen to the track below via Harris's Soundcloud.
