MK ft. Alana – Always (Route 94 Remix)

Heard you like house so I put in house etc. etc…

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[6.11]Micha Cavaseno: Mark Kinchen is a godfather of UK house, the kind of person who over the last few years has been reestablished as a “hushed whisper” sort of name the way Todd “The God” Edwards has been granted, and with good reason. Route 94 is a former dubstep producer of the more generic yet admirable “dungeon” halfstep variety (for the uninitiated, it’s more of a moody plod than a frenetic dust-up). Recently though, Route 94’s been doing alright for himself by arriving to the sea of generi-house that’s re-emerged to the delight of everyone, seemingly. There’s nothing wrong here, but also, this is the same stuff that’s been bogging down Ministry Of Sound compilations four years ago. And 10 years ago. In fact, minus the production values, it sounds like ANY single, and that’s the problem with the UK House Boom… How can a nation that’s produced dance music that’s spiraled along headfirst into pure madness return to its womb and refuse to climb out?
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Anthony Easton: Your love is making me feel like being in a disco coma. How I feel about this is a nostalgia for a paradise that never really existed.
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Thomas Inskeep: It says plenty for MK that his song, originally released in 1995, sounds so au courant right now. This Route 94 remix adds some extra Disclosure-ness for good commercial measure, but really this is all down to a sterling track by MK with some proper house-diva vocals from Alana. “Always” has been considered a deep house classic for almost 20 years, and now everyone can see why; this is practically the template for most of the house records charting (particularly in the UK) right now.
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Patrick St. Michel: Maybe it’s just because so much dance-pop right now sounds like this Route 94 remix… but geez, the original is just so much better.
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Hazel Robinson: Another thing that’s been kicking around the UK for ages already. This is very muted for what it is, and it makes it alluringly melancholic. There’s a tiny sense of building euphoria at the start — you don’t know what your love is doing to me, baby — and then with every repetition it gets sadder and more sinister. By the end, it’s moved miles from an entreating dancefloor to a darkened fire escape and a mutter — it’s eerie and skin-crawl-y and fascinatingly discomforting.
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Scott Mildenhall: Alana’s wonky examinations must be a gift to producers like Route 94. It’s a bit like she’s trying not to sing properly; predominantly flat, but with awry if discriminate rise and falls. It’s perfect for the sparse setting de jour he’s given it: spacy bip-bipping for hairs to stand on end, off-key wavering for a funny feeling in the stomach.
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Katherine St Asaph: Less a remix than an Instagram of a photo of a photo, taken at midnight. But Alana’s voice is still syrup and shadow, and so this will do.
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Alfred Soto: Remember when New Order in the nineties added remixes to already fantastic songs by the likes of Brothers in Rhythm to show they were hep to the real housequake? Well, here we are.
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Edward Okulicz: It’s 1995 again, only I’m old enough to go out and hear it! Yes! While the very specific house piano and bass presets from the original mix are gone, Route 94 at least had the taste to replace them with something that approximates what Livin’ Joy might sound like had they formed in the 2010s. And those original elements aren’t forgotten or destroyed; the original still exists. Both versions are great and I value the reminder.
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