Now you can listen to it Hit me hard and soft slowed down or sped up. Billie Eilish announced on Instagram that she made two additional versions of her latest album and they are available for purchase on her website until May 23rd at 9pm PT.
For those who don't have Finneas as their big brother, a “slow and reverb” version of a song is, as the name suggests, a slowed down version that incorporates additional reverb effects. The result is a trippy, viscous remix that often produces weirder, more emotional tracks. On the other hand, sped-up remixes tend to be the opposite, making more energetic and frenetic versions of the original songs. Depending on the remix, it can hit you hard or soft.
Historically, these remixes were generally unofficial and fan-made, and in a sense, Eilish continues that tradition. In her Instagram post announcing these new remixes, Eilish admits she was one such fan: “I used to upload songs I liked to the video star when I was 12, just so I could hear them slow down or speed up because I loved it so much.” Now, he's paying it forward.
Slow, reverbed remixes are a hallmark of internet culture – the trend was popularized by online subcultures like vaporwave, which made internet history in the early 2010s by slowing down and distorting popular songs like “Your Move” by Diana Ross. Similarly, sped-up remixes of anime and video game music became popular at the same time, spawning its own subgenre, nightcore. And of course, TikTok users have kept these trends alive ever since.
Troye Sivan is another artist who often releases similar remixes of his songs: a sped-up remix of his recent single “One of Your Girls” can be streamed for free on his official YouTube account, and so is a “slowed n reverb” edit ” of his edition. 2020 single, “Easy”. Canadian multi-hyphenate Grimes also dabbles in late-night music and sped-up remixes of his own songs. As internet-savvy Gen Z artists enter the mainstream, we can expect to see more of these types of releases.
