By Keith Walsh
Bjӧrk’s single “Play Dead” was originally included on the soundtrack to The Young Americans starring Harvey Keitel, and was then included on post-1993 pressings of Bjӧrk’s first international long player, Debut.

As reworked by Nahja Mora, an industrial electronic artist working out of Baltimore, Maryland, “Play Dead” strips away the fey elegance of Bjӧrk’s original, replacing it with deliciously strange and haunting electronics. Nahja Mora’s leader Josef Saint favors vintage Yamaha synths, which he distorts in strange ways. Saint also shapes sound using Gleetchlab and Abelton as a DAW.

I suspect that Gleetchlab is the main component here, because there’s so much weird and wonderful distortion and digital industrial noise, along with Saint’s voice that hits many of the fabulous high notes heard on Bjӧrk’s recording. And while Bjӧrk’s tune is already very dark, dealing with isolation and loneliness, Nahja Mora’s version is even wickeder, even stranger. Nahja Mora’s “Play Dead” is worth checking out, as is their growing catalogue.

Nahja Mora dot com
Nahja Mora on Bandcamp
Nahja Mora on Facebook
Nahja Mora on Instagram
Precision Field on Bandcamp
AHFHAOTA on Punkrockbeat.com
Josef Saint Talks Gear

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