If you’ve ever visited Local Natives’ SoundCloud page, you’ll notice the group has given away an album entitled “Hummingbird Stems” that’s packed with vocal and instrumental stems from their third solo album. This, aside from being an extraordinarily generous offering, opens up numerous doors for beatmakers looking to employ certain elements from the band’s scintillating work, and give their own efforts to the sonic character only Local Natives possess. Florida-based, future-sound enthusiast Jon Santana has done just that, remixing our favorite piece from the album, “Heavy Feet”. What we admire about this rework from Jon is his attitude towards Kelcey Ayer’s vocals, acknowledging them to the best of his ability and generating a sheer, euphoric atmosphere atop them. And though Santana does pay delicate attention to the vocals, his own contribution is just as elegant, with exquisite, evolving synths that then rupture into a tasty drum pattern-filled break that’s complete with hats that shepherd the chorus. What emerges particularly about the rework is its flawless progression and well-crafted sections, and since this isn’t the easiest task while tinkering with LN’s work, Santana earns some rightful credit in our eyes and ears.
Local Natives