Jackie Oates has released a reimagined version of Stardust's classic 1998 dance anthem ‘Music Sounds Better With You'.
The song features on ‘In the Bath', a new compilation released through high-street brand Lush's own Cosmetic Warriors label via Proper Music. This marks the latest collaboration between Oates and Lush.
The original version of ‘Music Sounds Better With You' managed to capture the essence of the late 90s and became one of the most influential electronic music releases of its era. A true representation of summer, it typified the French house sound with carefully chosen samples and gorgeous filters opening and closing. Now, Oatea brings her unique artistic perspective to this dance classic, transforming the signature warm, filtered sound into an intimate and joyful remake of the only track ever recorded by French house trio Stardust (an offshoot of Daft Punk).
“When bands aren’t prodigious and haven’t put out a lot of material, it’s easy for tracks to get forgotten”, says Lush co-founder Mark Constantine.
For those who may be unaware of Lush’s previous compilation albums collated by Mark, within them you’ll find a wide-ranging array of covers, each album spotlighting a different decade in music filled with songs that have shaped and influenced him and his career during each era – starting with Self Preservation Society’s tribute to the 60s, Instant Replay then took on the 70s and Life’s What You Make It the 80s. In The Bath is of course the next step, featuring 30 brand new versions of songs originally recorded between 1991 to 2001, plus 5 additional bonus tracks, including some of the finest pop, folk, rock and ballads of the time, every cover featuring a different artist’s reinterpretation.
Containing songs by artists as diverse as R.E.M, The Spice Girls, Celine Dion, Tracy Chapman, The Offspring and Depeche Mode, these have been reworked by a galaxy of established and rising stars including frequent Lush collaborators Teddy Thompson, Afro Celt Sound System, Eliza Carthy, Jackie Oates, and Martha Tilston, with first-time appearances from The Lovely Eggs, Alice Faye, Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Joshua Burnside, Lady Maisery and Field Music. From the familiar to the unfamiliar, with unexpected collisions of styles, radical reworkings and faithful renditions, this is a joyful celebration of an eclectic era for music… The result is a magnificently diverse, six-sided jewel of a record, forming the soundtrack to Mark’s decade of the beginning of Lush.
Mark says: ‘In my head, I see each of these triple album sets as a part of my autobiography. Granted, the years 1991 to 2001 weren’t quite like the sixties and seventies, where music was so powerful in my life, but I was still listening to a lot of new music, as I still do today. These songs represent some of my very favourite artists and songs from that period.
‘It’s a privilege to be able to commission these albums and help put them together. Everybody puts so much work into every track, and that's what people always remark upon whenever they listen to them. Such high quality, and such a joy to be involved.'
