Looking Glass

VINYL FORMAT. Of all the things that make Woolfy's "Looking Glass" a beautiful song, the most beguiling is how it deftly defies expectations. It comes on slowly, all sighing synths and percolating percussion, but unfolds into something unexpected: a solid electronic dance track that is simultaneously upbeat, catchy, mournful and evocative. The chorus, sung in his downcast vocals, is as heartbreaking as the lyrics suggest: "Don't take your / Eyes off me / You're leaving / And I'm looking lost." Of the many standouts on Woolfy's 2009 If You Know What's Good for Ya!! album, "Looking Glass" is most arresting of all. In addition, there are two remixes of Woolfy's wonderful original here. The first up is from DJ, producer and Cynic label head "Foolish Felix" Dickinson; the second comes via Australian DJ duo Canyons, aka Leo Holiday and Ryan Sea-Mist. For his part, Dickinson does away with the track's synth-pop foundation and infuses it with the sounds of old-school acid house; hypnotic beats and squelchy, rubbery bass take center stage. What's more, he adds depth with long, shadow-casting keys that launch this remix deep into sonic space. Canyons' remix fills the track so full of sadness and solitude, it feels like every element - the ruminating guitar; the lonesome, hanging piano; the stormy synthesized rumblings - was recorded in the vastness of a painted desert. Even as things pick up a bit in the second half of the song with a newfound beat, Woolfy's echoing refrain rings as distant and forlorn as ever. All together, the sum of these twilight parts makes for an even greater and disquietingly gorgeous whole.