Less is more, more or less...
Faithless pioneer a sound of subdued, old-school, acid-house beats with sensuous vocals and tantalising melody. ‘Miss U Less, See U More’ is a song of subtlety and simplicity. It’s a sedate dance tune that could lull you into a coma of movement, there’s a trance-like quality to the new Faithless single, it’s descriptive lyrics culminating in a chorus of sensible conclusion, to see you more is to miss you less.
The pizzicato notes that provide the record’s entrance are reminiscent of the early nineties, mainstream dance familiarity. Faithless are trying to continue a style which disappeared from the charts a long while ago, yet was immensely important in the progression of music and is still very influential on the sound of pop today.
As a single, this goes from strength to strength, unusually, with every remix being better than the last. The first, the Single Mix, has something of Daft Punk about it, that smooth tranquillity met with energetic force resulting in an access-all-areas dance beat. The Beginerz Mix is a tad more House in style, with a heavy bass-beat present from the outset, the re-arrangement of the parts that made the original tune retain the interest right through the near eight minute remix. A better choice for the club scene than the single edit.
‘Phela – Detroit Club Mix’ with it’s use of delayed vocals and more emphasised snares and claps is again a better one for dancing to, a few more old-school keyboard stabs and repeated hooks. The coolest mix though is the last, ‘Switch’s Chops.’ Playing around with pitch and adding a few crazy sampled noises, it builds up into quite a catchy little epic. Elements of Mr. Oizo, Eiffel 65 and Fatboy Slim all in place.
‘Miss U Less, See U More’ is a bit numb, but works well in it’s minimalism, proving less is more, more or less… An exciting single improves matters greatly, the variety of the mixes makes a whole listen quite worthwhile.