Chicane: "Poppiholla (Disco Citizens Remix)"

Does Ecstasy work well in the cold? Think carefully before you unleash yourself to the latest from Chicane, who’s on a mission to fuse some drug tremble energy with Sigur Rós’ gloopy goose pimples. It seems Nick Bracegirdle only truly comes alive when taking other people’s unassuming hymn chords and boosting them into addictive dance melodrama, and his latest is no exception—no different, either, which makes it either a) the vaguely moody trance hit of Summer 2009 or b) the blackest possible consequences of letting your band sign a “Universal Use” clause. How you cast your own vote depends somewhat on your tendency to socialise, but personally I’d rate this as one of the better attempts at capturing the Icelanders’ occasional euphoria and porting it into household compatibility. Tailor-made for pinching the sun while your head’s safely stuffed full of chemicals, “Poppiholla” (formerly “Hoppípolla” from Sigur Rós’ 2005 Takk… album) is here given a nifty upgrade by the Disco Citizens: Chicane’s old alias from his collaborative days when Ibiza had a lot less litter.

One second into playback, you’re slapped with the song’s main objective: you’re going clubbing, like it or not. A rigid two-chord march helps ferry a daytime trance beat, strictly robotic until the surfacing of that piano line. Which just melts, by the way, regardless of what instruments it’s backed with/what commercial it’s set to. A synth bridge not unlike “Mr. Brightside” appears midway too, balancing what fast becomes one glorious sunrise moment to get those pupils spreading like ink. In spite of their nine year hiatus, the Citizens obviously still love to kick it, and know you need a strong longevity to ward off early exit temptation. Can’t see that happening with this one, though, as “Poppiholla”‘s already proving so popular with radio play and Youtube clicks that The Best Of Chicane 1996-2008 will now be re-released and upped by a year. Ideas, eh? Don’t you just hate ‘em.