It's an interesting but heavily admirable approach to recreating a beautiful piece of pop-punk work into an electronic dance tune. It was unexpected. However, it brought the song a new dimension, texture, and life: upbeat, fun, and danceable.
It's essential to get the whole narrative of Wolf's past year to make sense of this remix. The attention to Wolf's music has significantly grown due to how she has shared her music on social media. She has captured listeners into imagining her music being played in the 'Twilight' movie saga due to the specific deep longing depicted in a few of her latest songs released in mid-2024 up until earlier this year.
'Last Summer' ("I can't get warm, swimming under ice / I'm alone, everything's dark" heavily references being in love with someone cold, metaphorically, but who has an unhealthy habit. Meanwhile, 'In My Room', is much more desperate, spiralling, clawing for any type of attention to mend the depression coming from "Not asking for much, man, thought maybe you'd call me / I'd slit my own throat just to see if you'd mourn me". Even the release before the remix of 'In My Room', 'Jennifer's Body' is dark, haunting and full of self-insecurity and deprecation.
Within the original composition of 'In My Room', various parts are stripped back to make an acapella section emphasising the duress she is going through. Other sections are backed by heavy guitars, and a rhythm section is typically heard in pop-punk/alt-pop as the chorus rings out. "I want your things in my room / I miss you all of the time / I stalk myself on the internet just to see what you'll find". Those instrumental sections are pulled back in volume to allow the lyrics' power and her voice's emotional rawness to carry the punch of the song further.
In comparison to the remix, we hear so much more of this song. It's in a new genre, a new key, no pop-punk element anymore, and the vocals are sped up. Badger, an electronic dance artist from the UK, brings a unique approach to a song created to be straight to the point and listened to while moping on your bed. He transformed the piece into a more texturised listening experience, adding an electronic drum kit with more high hats, kick drums, treble and bass synths, and additional sound effects.
He uses an interesting drop or clock-like noise throughout, which is interesting as it mimics the passage of time, something similar to the promotional inspiration for the original version of the track - Bella's depression after Edward left. Months go by with her in shock, stuck in her room, screaming, crying and creating hallucinations of him in her mind. Additionally, he uses Julia's vocals as additional aspects of the song to manipulate. Closer to the bridge, he uses her voice to turn it into a synth and a build-up to the beat drop for the chorus.
The piece went from sad and lonely to upbeat and electric, and it was perfect for merging the club sound into an alternative genre. Instead of being miserable in your room narrative, you can go out with your friends and dance and sweat away the heartache. The integrity of the song's original meaning is still there - desperation and longing for attention, except this time, it's through an escapism route through movement instead of sulking. This unexpected yet intriguing creative collaboration is an ideal mixture of two genre worlds coming together for two emerging artists.
It will be exciting to see what future work these two do together and separately in their projects. Regardless of what they do, it will be a good time to get these artists on your radar.
Tyra Baker
@got_tyra
Image: ‘In My Room’ Julia Wolf x Badger Official Single Cover
