Four Tet gives Caribou’s ‘Never Come Back’ a dynamic, uplifting techno remake

Kieran Hebden and Dan Snaith have enjoyed decades-long friendship. As Four Tet and Caribou, respectively, the English and Canadian musicians have worked together and remixed each other over the years. Previously, Caribou has put his stamp on the English producer’s “Angel Echoes” while Four Tet has lent a remix treatment to Caribou’s “Melody Day.” Now, fresh off his Boiler Room set from Isolation and a performance at LiB DGTL this past weekend, Four Tet has given Caribou’s “Never Come Back” another personal, left-field touch.

“Kieran is already part of my music before he remixes it,” explains Snaith about their relationships. “He spent hours listening to drafts of tracks from Suddenly and giving me feedback, as he has done with my previous albums. I love that when people think of us as musical allies that they are seeing something real and genuine, not music industry artifice. We are the closest friends—so much so that I feel like we are family—and I love that people who listen to our music can feel that.”

As the third track taken from Suddenly, Four Tet gives the cheerful, original track a make-over that takes “Never Come Back” from a sunny afternoon deep into the late-night underground after hours. The track opens slowly, with Caribou’s sunny house piano riffs and a mellow acidic funk intact, followed by deep stabbing synths, gorgeous chord progressions, and greasy drums. From there, the almost 8-minute-long journey takes a two-minute bridge that centers around a psychedelic interlude. The result is a techno remix that is left-field and dynamic.

The two-track remix package also features an upbeat house remix from Morgan Geist, also known as Storm Queen, that keeps closer to the original while bringing forth a subtle sense of playfulness to the original. Stream both tracks below.

Photo credit: Leila Hebden.