Originally, Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins was going to appear on this song, a highlight of the similarly titled album, but record company hoo-hah meant it turned up as an instrumental. For the single release, Fraser was able to take a proper vocal bow, along with Talvin Singh, who had contributed tablatronics to the "Life Form Ends" snippet that also appeared on the album. Consisting of seven different mixes, or paths, of the song, the Lifeforms EP experiments with radically redesigned versions of the original song, ...
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Originally, Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins was going to appear on this song, a highlight of the similarly titled album, but record company hoo-hah meant it turned up as an instrumental. For the single release, Fraser was able to take a proper vocal bow, along with Talvin Singh, who had contributed tablatronics to the "Life Form Ends" snippet that also appeared on the album. Consisting of seven different mixes, or paths, of the song, the Lifeforms EP experiments with radically redesigned versions of the original song, substituting the straightforward beats with a variety of alternate rhythms. Other melodic or textural parts from the album take get similarly revamped -- groans, whistles, and echoes suddenly played up or mixed down and out, synth parts or samples turned into new central beats, and more. All seven takes are well worth hearing (the third is essentially the original album mix), but the standouts include the second, which builds up in intensity without ever quite going over the top, and the vocal-heavy, slow funk loop fourth. ~ Ned Raggett, Rovi
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