Man Without Country – “Closet Addicts Anonymous” (Van Rivers Remix) MP3 (PopMatters Premiere)

There was already something darkly foreboding and mysterious about Man Without Country‘s recent excellent single, “Closet Addicts Anonymous”, but Van Rivers focuses more on the latter than the former of those two by stripping it down to a Gorillaz-esque pop dirge that manages to have bounce to spare. It’s a strange angle yet it works wonderfully with the context of the song itself, accentuating the light/dark dichotomy that the original only hinted at, choosing to emphasize the dark and bury the light.

In “Closet Addicts Anonymous” there’s an odd sort of resigned acceptance that things aren’t that great but the track manages to stay away from being completely defeatist. This is what the remix expertly hones in on and exploits. It’s a thrilling transition from an intensely aggressive piece to something that barely resembles its former self yet retains part of what made the song so great to begin with, which is exactly what a great remix should do.