Much has happened in the world since Wallows released “OK,” the first single after their debut album Nothing Happens. But as we close in 0n a year of quarantine, with a vaccine rollout and a new president, there’s a new urgency to that chorus: “Can we get up and try to feel okay again?” Which is why it’s perfect that the Los Angeles trio teamed up with Remi Wolf and Solomonophonic for a revamped version.
The initial version of “OK” found lead singer Dylan Minnette feeling uncertain in a romantic relationship, something that might be too good to be true. A pernicious dissonance lives in the track as anxious, possibly self-sabotaging thoughts mingle among the group’s chirpy synth-pop. If you thought this track couldn’t get any catchier, well, you were wrong.
Trippy pop wunderkind Remi Wolf provides another layer of skepticism that opens into vulnerability. “I got a feeling that you don’t want me / These tapes a-reeling / When I’m alone these tapes are horny,” she sings, worried and frustrated. In the background, producer Solomonophonic adds a layer of carbonated blips and hiccups while Wolf conjures a flurry of breezy harmonies and yelps. At the end of Wolf’s verse, she reveals that she might be on the verge of collapse, admitting she’s been lying “when I say that I love myself / More than you or anybody else.” In this chronic age of mistrust, Wolf’s hesitance and disclosed rawness feels both familiar and bittersweet.
Hear the remix below.
