Celebrating resilience with Thunder Jackson and The Knocks in “Colors”

Very rarely do I believe remixes to be noteworthy enough that they deserve their own write-up and pomp. but the New York Electronic duo “The Knocks” found an already precious gem delicately and lovingly cut in Thunder Jackson’s “Colours” and set it on a huge 24 karat belt buckle to hold up some 1977 Bell Bottom pants that’ll rock the dancefloor. Te re-titled “Colors” brings out a new dimension of energy and vibe to the song, turning an already uplifting anthem into a veritable masterpiece capable of making even the dead shake it off Saturday night style.

From a self-revindication in the face of a claustrophobic pandemic to a revindication of a whole musical genre, “Colours” (as the pre-remix song was titled) and “Colors” weave a spell as old as time itself, one of grooving and enjoyment. In Thunder’s own words:”[…]Now that clubs are opening up, I can’t think of a better song to celebrate our resilience and true spirit … our ‘colors that won’t wash out.” 

 This rousing the-devil-may-care spirit of defiance is beautiful to listen to. Jackson’s soulful vocals are elevated to intoxicating heights by the masterful arrangement of The Knocks. The song invites you to dance your cares away, it speaks to your better nature and it promises (and delivers) a moment of respite amidst the chaos and the grind. The music video itself is interspliced with these gorgeous images of joyful dancing bodies, timeless and true in the sweat and the heat of an era now so far away yet so vividly here thanks to the music and the vocals, it really is *that* good, *that* well made.

On the other end of things, The inspiration that drove this Remix to be was -according to The Knocks- Thunder’s astounding vocals: “Thunder Jackson is a force!! His vocal on this song really blew us away and we were really excited to do our thing on it. We loved so much of the original that we really didn’t want to take it too far out of that zone, so we just tried to make it even more dance-floor/dj friendly and are super happy with how it turned out.” I found it impossible not to agree completely with their assessment, and I hope we can hear them link up more often in the future.