Lyrics woven into electronic harmonies so finely that you can’t tell where poetry ends and a pulsating vocal texture begins. Synths that echo emotionality as much as they set up the main melody in the song. A percussive presence as clandestine as it is acerbic when it matters the most. We’re lost in the waves of maxi aesthetics and profound synthpop tones that comprise “Stay (Robot Mix)” by Snuttock, but there is no fear to be found among the audience. Instead of drowning in this ocean of sonic wonder, we’re gliding alongside this power duo and understanding the versatility that they effortlessly bring to the table.

URL: https://www.snuttock.com/

The beat here is so painfully withheld in comparison to what the melodic elements in the mix are doing, but it’s important to appreciate the way this effect generates tension going well beyond what the lyrics could ever produce on their own. Rhythm is essential to making a song like “Stay (Robot Mix)” feel crushing from an emotional perspective, and in putting an implied muzzle over any loud and proud action we might have gotten from the percussion, we’re left to breathe in the angst of the synth’s harmony and nothing else.

Everything about the duality in the relationship between the synthesizers, bassline and lead vocal in this song acts as an extension of warmth rather than the bone-chilling cold of a more gothic sound (as you might expect out of the track’s instrumental framework). It’s surreally comforting even though its compositional style is one that was made specifically for relishing in the pain and misery of a dark post-punk sound, and I suppose you can credit the hearty electronic components at the heart of this mix for this at the end of the day. There’s depth in “Stay (Robot Mix)” that isn’t typical of either genre contemporarily, which made me really excited to cover both the single and its video this January.

Shazam: https://www.shazam.com/track/551984600/stay-robot-mix

Though it’s definitely not as robotic and forced as its title suggests it would be, this mix of Snuttock’s “Stay” is ace and a superior choice to the original, in my opinion. Bryan Lee and Christopher Lee Simmonds deliver a connective performance akin to that of an iconic alternative rock pairing here that doesn’t disappoint old guard critics like myself or the emerging college radio crowd eager to discover quality indie music right now, which is no easy feat by any means.

John McCall