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May 18, 2015 By Laura Studarus

On May 22, Sondre Lerche will release Despite the Night, a remix EP featuring the PLEASE track of the same name. Ahead of that, we’ve got a premiere stream of the newly refurbished pop treat.

“‘Despite The Night’ was originally a key song in the process of what eventually became PLEASE,” says Lerche of the track. “It set the tone for much of the experimentations and freedoms we found in the studio, and was recorded the day before we cut PLEASE-closer ‘Logging Off.’ As I started sensing what lyrics and themes felt most pressing and charged with regards to PLEASE, ‘Despite The Night’ fell out of that context. It felt more like a song for the future, than the here and now. I had also struggled to find the right version of the song, the right mix, the right balance. I couldn't yet quite forget the very first rough mix of ‘Despite The Night,’ done by producer Matias Tellez (Young Dreams) in five minutes after the initial session, and suppose I was slowly realizing that I needed some distance to gain the full perspective of knowing what to do with this recording. With a long world tour for PLEASE between myself and the song, I started seeing new qualities in Anthony Molina's (Mercury Rev) original mix from last year, while also sensing several new possibilities for the song. I asked Matias to have a new go at a mix, with no reverence or nostalgia for what happened in 2014. I also asked four of the most creative types I know in Brooklyn and Bergen to remix, redefine, reinterpret the song, following only their intuition. I can think of very little that inspires me more than hearing what possibilities other musicians that I admire see in something I created. I always felt that ‘Despite The Night’ belonged to the summer. And the dance floor. It's a song about new possibilities, new desire, new surprises. Euphoria and melancholy, side by side. It seems you can't have one without the other lurking in the shadows. At last, ‘Despite The Night’ is fully realized—in six different ways. Somebody else already found me."

Tour Dates:

06-27 – Washington D.C. @ U Street Music Hall

06-28 – Boston, Mass. @ The Sinclair

06-29 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Boot & Saddle

06-30 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

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(www.sondrelerche.com)