Music Insights
VIDEO VIEWS BY JC: Mark Ronson “Late Night Feelings ft. Lykke Li”
Mark Ronson has released the title track from his upcoming album of so called sad bangers; Late Night Feelings, featuring the Swedish sad-sexy voice of a generation and queen of the indie remix, Lyyke Li.
Ronson’s return to creating pop music was certain. After the inescapable, damn near inexhaustible success of Uptown Special, he spent his time among other things co-writing A Star is Born’s “Shallow” with Lady Gaga, for which he won a Golden Globe, an Oscar and a Grammy. Ronson, a longtime musical chemist with a mad knack for distilling the essence of an artist for release as a formidable draught on the general population in the form of a nearly endless litany of pop hits, seemed destined to collaborate with Lyyke Li. Both came up in the same era of the New York music scene, and both could easily be referred to as masters of the guest appearance. Lyyke Li’s recognizable yet largely uncredited voice has been sampled on countless indie-house remixes for the last decade. It speaks a great deal to her signature melancholic sound that she’s been featured on television series, film, and video game soundtracks, with collaborative pieces surfacing on the most far flung albums imaginable- from David Lynch to Kanye.
It’s usual for Ronson to retrieve an aesthetic from a bygone era. In the music video for Late Night Feelings, Lyyke Li emerges from a bath wearing nothing but gold jewellery and sashays to a steamed mirror to take a sip of wine and give Ronson’s stylized photo a quick smooch. As she shimmies through her apartment gyrating and flinging herself around in a desperate bid for the “wrong affection, night after night,” the retro vibe is fully realized complete with shag carpeting, Go Go boots, and tongue in cheek gender roles. For a femme fatale on the verge of nervous breakdown, the track develops into a surprisingly cheery and memorable disco beat.
Late Night Feelings is set to release with many guest collaborations, one notably from the first artist signed to Ronson’s label, King Princess, as well as Camila Cabello and Alicia Keys. With Mark Ronson currently promoting the album with pop-up DJ shows, it’s a fair assumption to think that you’ll be hearing a few more sad bangers this summer.