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Tom Vek Remix of UK Duo Alaskalaska 'Glass' From Album 'Still Life'

The remix was released alongside a visualizer.

By: Mar. 23, 2023
Tom Vek Remix of UK Duo Alaskalaska 'Glass' From Album 'Still Life'  Image
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After their first successful American live showcases in Los Angeles and at SXSW, ALASKALASKA (pronounced "Alaska-laska") are sharing a remix by Jas Shaw from their album closing track "Long Lasting Pleasure," and "Glass" by Tom Vek, taken from their album Still Life which is out via Marathon Records (Lava La Rue, Courtney Barnett, Pond etc).

Lucinda Duarte-Holman says: "I used to listen to Tom Vek on the walk home from my bar job late at night, I would definitely cite him as an early influence for me! I think it's fair to say, if you know, you know. Tom Vek's music encapsulates a certain time for a lot of people I know so we were really excited when he offered to do this remix of "Glass".

Our first visit to the States was an experience we'll never forget! We were very grateful to finally be able to connect with our fans in LA and Austin and hope that we'll be able to return soon to cover more US ground. SXSW is such a trip but overall a beautiful combination of chaos and discovery. We really enjoyed connecting with new and familiar bands and artists from all over."

The last few years have seen the band-who rose up in parallel with both the South London jazz scene and the post-punk movement of Brixton Windmill before going on to open up for acts like Tame Impala, Nilüfer Yanya and Hot Chip -navigate new ways of working.

Still Life finds writers and producers Lucinda Duarte-Holman and Fraser Rieley embracing a more free-form electronica while exploring the privileges associated with modern domestic existence and the pressures that come with technology, social media and climate change.

The celebrated album Still Life features singles "TV Dinners", "Still Life", "Glass" and "Growing Up Pains (Unni's Song)" and drew support from KCRW, BBC 6 Music's Lauren Laverne, Chris Hawkins and Tom Ravenscroft, BBC Radio 1's Jack Saunders and Nels Hylton, BBC Introducing's Jess Iszatt and more.

Produced by Jas Shaw (of Simian Mobile Disco), the album is full of digital sounds, drum machine and synth melodies cunningly sat beside rich, organic, acoustic instrumentation-a looping tug of war between existential dread and everyday simple pleasures.

While Still Life was never intended to be a 'pandemic album', it was ultimately realised and enhanced by this moment in time. Coincidentally, Duarte-Holman was already thinking about our habitual nature as a society and questioning what that means for us moving forward while doing the bulk of the writing, in its skeletal form at least, back in 2019.

These themes were then exacerbated and further crystalised with the onset of the pandemic, a time that also meant ALASKALASKA were unable to get their regular supporting band in the same room, resulting in Duarte-Holman and Rieley embarking on a 24/7 endless stream of noise, soundscape, and consciousness that, like it or loathe it, only the 21st century 6G world can facilitate.

The limitations of that time allowed them to explore sounds they'd never quite had the freedom to play with, resulting in the band adventuring into more electronic soundscapes, creating a unique and infectious bed of indie-electronica in which their deeply reflective lyrics sit. Influences shine through both in a fluid exploration of genre and a tender, always-focused lyricism-it's the methods of Björk, Fever Ray, LCD Soundsystem and Arthur Russell, and the contemporary melodies of Metronomy and Porches that excite them.

Listen to the new remix here:

Photo credit Tami Aftab



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