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Music

Shadow Child Takes on a Club Classic Ahead of the Release of His Debut Album 'Connected'

The UK house head's given The Future Sound of London's seminal "Papua New Guinea" a contemporary re-rub.

The thing about classics in any artform—be it a novel or a play or an advert for washing powder—is that you can't really fuck about with them too much. They hold a persuasive power over us that even time, that grinding old bastard, finds hard to destroy. In one hundred, two hundred, three hundred years, people will still read My Booky Wook, watch Sex Lives of the Potato Men and gawp at this drawing of Graham Norton.

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They'll also be listening to "Papau New Guinea" by the Future Sound of London, the 1991 ambient-breakbeat stormer that still sounds absolutely impeccable after all this years. So when we heard the reliable UK house head Shadow Child was going to give it the remix treatment—in a version that was first heard on his Essential Mix a while back—we were ever so slightly worried. Not because we didn't think he was up to the task but because we didn't know if the world needed yet another version of it.

Happily, we were just being obstinate idiots, and his contemporary re-rub is a suitably slamming big room house joint that sizzles like a particularly good slab of lamb on a Sunday. With a debut album under the moniker on the way—which features all manner of collaborations and collected remixes—we decided to let you listen to the FSOL remix and soak up the results of a quick chat with the man himself below.

The thing about classics in any artform—be it a novel or a play or an advert for washing powder—is that you can't really fuck about with them too much. They hold a persuasive power over us that even time, that grinding old bastard, finds hard to destroy. In one hundred, two hundred, three hundred years, people will still read My Booky Wook, watch Sex Lives of the Potato Men and gawp at this drawing of Graham Norton.

They'll also be listening to "Papau New Guinea" by the Future Sound of London, the 1991 ambient-breakbeat stormer that still sounds absolutely impeccable after all this years. So when we heard the reliable UK house head Shadow Child was going to give it the remix treatment—in a version that was first heard on his Essential Mix a while back—we were ever so slightly worried. Not because we didn't think he was up to the task but because we didn't know if the world needed yet another version of it.

Happily, we were just being obstinate idiots, and his contemporary re-rub is a suitably slamming big room house joint that sizzles like a particularly good slab of lamb on a Sunday. With a debut album under the moniker on the way—which features all manner of collaborations and collected remixes—we decided to let you listen to the FSOL remix and soak up the results of a quick chat with the man himself below.

THUMP: Now that we're easing into the season of mellow fruitfulness and roast dinners, let's look back on the summer of 2016...how was it? When you reach old age and you pick up a quill and begin to hammer out the Shadow Child story, what role will the last few months play, if any?
Shadow Child: It's been great. I had July off for family time and to finish the album but the rest has been as mad as usual. Highlights have been the unexpected ones like the Jersey Live festival, which I did with Catz n Dogs.

You've got an album on the way. Sell it to me.
It's a full on collab-fest featuring Bodhi, Huxley, T.Williams, S.P.Y (our Code23 project), Ashworth and more, plus a couple of sought after remixes everyone's been asking for. The idea was to do collaborations but have them centre stage on one project rather than dotted around here and there, to make more impact. Early vibes on it are very strong, so fingers crossed!

Tell us a little about how you came to remix FSOL.
I made it for my Essential Mix a couple of years ago with no real intention of making it official. To be honest, The Future Sound of London guys are famous for not getting onboard with these things but I thought I'd keep contact here and there, gently prodding them and nudging them with opportunities I had to unleash it, and they finally agreed my Connected album was a great place to do it. It's an honour to have their seal of approval. It's one of the most bootlegged tunes of all time but this one is now one of the very rare official versions. You'll never beat the real thing, but mine adds a new dimension to it for today's crowd.

FINALLY, and most importantly...what's the most intriguing shadowy cover-up you've ever read about?
Got to be that one that Eats Everything is really Elton Welsby, the bloke who used to present the football on ITV in the 90s. Still does my head in. That's re-invention for you!

Shadow Child's album Connected is out on October 14th.

THUMP: Now that we're easing into the season of mellow fruitfulness and roast dinners, let's look back on the summer of 2016…how was it? When you reach old age and you pick up a quill and begin to hammer out the Shadow Child story, what role will the last few months play, if any?
Shadow Child: It's been great. I had July off for family time and to finish the album but the rest has been as mad as usual. Highlights have been the unexpected ones like the Jersey Live festival, which I did with Catz n Dogs.

You've got an album on the way. Sell it to me.
It's a full on collab-fest featuring Bodhi, Huxley, T.Williams, S.P.Y (our Code23 project), Ashworth and more, plus a couple of sought after remixes everyone's been asking for. The idea was to do collaborations but have them centre stage on one project rather than dotted around here and there, to make more impact. Early vibes on it are very strong, so fingers crossed!

Tell us a little about how you came to remix FSOL.
I made it for my Essential Mix a couple of years ago with no real intention of making it official. To be honest, The Future Sound of London guys are famous for not getting onboard with these things but I thought I'd keep contact here and there, gently prodding them and nudging them with opportunities I had to unleash it, and they finally agreed my Connected album was a great place to do it. It's an honour to have their seal of approval. It's one of the most bootlegged tunes of all time but this one is now one of the very rare official versions. You'll never beat the real thing, but mine adds a new dimension to it for today's crowd.

FINALLY, and most importantly…what's the most intriguing shadowy cover-up you've ever read about?
Got to be that one that Eats Everything is really Elton Welsby, the bloke who used to present the football on ITV in the 90s. Still does my head in. That's re-invention for you!

Shadow Child's album Connected is out on October 14th.