Back in June, Dublin-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist siblings Méabh and Mella Carron, who compose and perform folk songs together along with guitarist Darragh McGrath as an act that’s simply and aptly called Carron, announced that they had enlisted the talents of a number of other creators in the music industry, including producers and videographers, to help them create new remixes of five of their most renowned songs.
The first of these five remixes that the sisters shared with the world was an invigorating reworking of “She’s Fire” from Carron’s 2016 record, Roots, which was created in collaboration with producer Richey McCourt and released in late June.
Now the sisters have unveiled the second of the five new remixes – a rearranged version of their song “Even Sad Birds Sing”, which was created by Dutch producer Kobina.
Originally released in 2018, “Even Sad Birds Sing” was said to embody a new mission statement by the siblings, “the harder we fall, the louder we sing”, with Méabh telling Pure M at the time of its release, “we have to be happy with our music and we have to love performing it. ‘Sad Birds’ touches on this theme – not compromising our standards to get ahead, and staying true to ourselves and the kind of performers we want to be.”
As Carron evolve their sound, experiment with new techniques and continue to create music that means something to them and that they’re enthusiastic to share with the world through their new remix project, the above statement from Méabh certainly seems as relevant now in relation to this new version of “Even Sad Birds Sing” as it was when she and Mella released the original version of the song two years ago.
In addition to still being indicative of Carron staying true to themselves and releasing music that they want to release, the Kobina remix of “Even Sad Birds Sing” is said to “reinforce the sisters’ ethos to stick together during difficult times, with a darkly fresh club sound that evokes the isolation, uncertainty and fear that is prevalent in today’s society.”
Speaking about the new remix, Kobina said, “For me, it was it all about creating a sense of release from the initial feeling of claustrophobia – emphasising the hope in the original vocals by pushing them into another context.”
The newly-released remix deepens the sound of the siblings’ original vocals in an affecting way during its first seventy seconds then completely remixes them in an enthrallingly unique and animated way during its remaining two minutes and combines them with stirring electronic music all the way through, giving rise to a captivatingly idiosyncratic and moving new version of the classic Carron composition.
You can listen to “Even Sad Birds Sing (Kobina Remix)” below via its official music video, which was directed by Irish filmmaker Conor McCormick and stars John McMahon, and is meant to echo the daily repetition and isolation that many people around the world are currently experiencing as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.