[Hyperdub]

When you make as drastic a stylistic transformation as Hyperdub dubstep duo Darkstar did by turning into a synth-pop trio for their debut album North, how do you reconcile this change to an already-devoted fanbase? Why, you get one of the hottest names in deep house to remix the first single! Wait, what? It’s a typically provocative bit of A&R from Steve Goodman (aka Kode 9) and Marcus Scott, and in a way a logical sequel to Kyle Hall’s Darkstar remix on last year’s “Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer.”

The original “Gold” is one of the most straightforward tracks on North. A cover of an obscure 1983 Human League b-side, it offers a hauntological hum-and-buzz, tip-toeing over electrified panels and stumbling over a decaying piano enmeshed in the track’s scintillatingly throbbing structure. It’s this piano that provides the logical grasping point for John Roberts, whose own productions make prominent use of the instrument, but his remix of “Gold” isn’t just a would-be castoff from his recent (and fantastic) Glass Eights LP. The remix is grittier and rougher than any of his material since the Hesitate EP, the edges sawed off the soot-caked piano so it becomes a tangled, trampled underfoot melody daintily decorated with dulcet vibes and handclaps. Those claps quickly become the focal point, shooting out rapidly as if from a nail gun over the faint vestiges of James Buttery’s voice. They contort and pitch-shift in a way not unlike early breaks-driven jungle, and Roberts’ intriguing mix of desperate intensity and his classy jazz-influenced atmosphere proves a perfect foil for Darkstar’s defeated, forlorn machine pop.