UK duo Two Shell, once famous for going against the grain (doing an interview then deleting it from the web; prerecording a DJ set then allegedly having it performed by decoys) have recently settled into something resembling normalcy. Now, they play big festival stages and release relatively mellow dance music, with the sugar rush of their earlier hits slowed down into midtempo grooves and uncanny vocal hooks. Last year’s album-not-album IICONS, made of music from their live sets—including some played on the Glastonbury stage of the same name— replaced the shock of the new with the pleasant din of the familiar: strange, but not surprising. Now, their latest limited release (what they’ve called a “bonus album”) reconsiders their relatively subdued 2024 self-titled LP to offer one of the most regular and expected things an electronic act can release: a remix album.
With a handful of new tracks alongside a slate of remixes, t҉w҉o҉ ҉s҉h҉e҉l҉l҉ is more like a grab-bag of goodies than an album proper. And some of those goodies are pretty damn great. The release is worth the Bandcamp price alone for the new version of “Everybody Worldwide,” an EDM makeover of the original cut that hitches an Eric Prydz-style sidechained piano riff to the Two Shell wagon. Originally hinted at in the end of the original song’s video, this fully-fledged version might be the most straightforward Two Shell track yet. The boldness looks good on the duo, outlining their pop instincts with thick Sharpie instead of letting them blur into indistinct neon shapes as they did on IICONS.
The other new tracks, confusingly labeled “ᵛⁱⁿʸˡ,” are inconsistent. For every lovably goofy moment (like when a crunchy electronic guitar riff breaks out in “hello it’s me” after a voice shouts “let’s go”), there are uninspired exercises like “in my heart ᵛⁱⁿʸˡ.” That one is a flimsy piano ballad where the duo’s approach to vocals—strangled, swirled and gasping—comes off more annoying than innovative, like a joke that isn’t funny anymore. The deliriously happy, French house-y “levitate” (subtitled “ᵒʳⁱᵍⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ”), is a major highlight, but it’s not even a new track; it’s actually from 2023. It’s followed by the mumblemouthed “do u like me? ᵒʳⁱᵍⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ,” which is so flighty and random that it feels like the result of typing “Two Shell cutesy house jam” into an AI song generator—an aesthetic idea desperately seeking a hook.
Some remixers come to the rescue. Planet Mu affiliate Ship Sket’s gurgly, EDM-inspired textures are a natural match for Two Shell, and his version of “hello it’s me” sounds like the original being forced through a sieve, guts and gasps bubbling out of unseen corners. SWARMM’s choppy remix of “hurt somebody” has more oomph than the original. Facta and Tamaranamen both turn Two Shell tunes into cutesy, Dntel-adjacent electronica, the former’s low-end reinforced with a rough-around-the-edges-bassline and the latter with a quivering lead that sounds like a music box. These remixes, with actual tension between their textures and keen melodic interplay, live up to the best of Two Shell’s work better than the duo themselves these days. But the other remixes, even by distinct and talented producers like box5ive, are unremarkable: They feel like pale imitations of PC Music, all twitching percussion and blandly chirpy vocals.
Two Shell’s DJ sets lean heavily on original material, and in that context, their music’s sleek alien shapes and weird little vocal hooks come alive, presenting a new thrill around every corner. But presented track-by-track on an album, the tracks feel samey, almost unfinished. Only the new version of “Everybody Worldwide” comes close to older highlights like “home” or “Mainframe.” But the duo still have some tricks up their sleeves—try not to smile after the computer voice on the groovy opener “<initialize> ᵛⁱⁿʸˡ” dryly states “Yes, I know Spanish,” before bursting out into breakneck Spanish chatter. Unlike so much of Two Shell’s recent music, this track reminds you that there are people—funny people, with soul—behind the music, not some artificial intelligence trying to reproduce what once felt genuinely original.
