The Myth of the Original Version
I’ve never been entirely comfortable with the idea of an “original version” of a track. At least not in the way it’s usually framed - as the definitive, canonical form of the music.
To me, music feels far more fluid than that. It’s a living, shifting thing - more like a quantum concept than a fixed artifact. I’ve long believed that every track exists in multiple possible forms simultaneously. As producers, our role isn’t to invent from scratch, but to tune into one of those versions and bring it into the world. Every mix, remix, rework, or live variation is simply another reflection of the same emotional core. A different reality.
Take Addicted to Lies, for example.
The earliest incarnation of the track was aggressive and unruly - part rock, part electronic mayhem. It had distortion, attitude, and teeth. That version eventually gave way to something much more restrained and brooding on The Shadowmaker album - a sparse, spacious track built around sonic minimalism. And now, with the Reconstructed: Make Me Whole Mix, it’s taken yet another form - a 102 BPM acid-drenched slow-burner designed for foggy dancefloors and late-night introspection.
Each of these is valid. None are more “authentic” than the others. They’re simply parallel truths - each revealing something different about the idea at the heart of the track.
But this evolution isn’t confined to production. It’s mirrored in how we consume music as well. DJs, playlist curators, and even casual listeners recontextualize tracks every day. The placement of a song within a set or playlist completely transforms how it’s perceived - surrounding it with tension, release, and narrative shape. As a DJ, I’ve always been fascinated by this. A track played in the right moment can become more than itself. It becomes a chapter in a longer story.
We see it too in cover versions, in live reinterpretations, and even in genre-crossing remixes. The song stays the same at its core - but its voice changes. Its energy shifts. Its meaning evolves.
That’s really what the Reconstructed series is all about for me. Not just remixing for the sake of it, but unlocking alternate realities. Re-contextualizing and reimagining musical ideas. Giving them new shape and new life.
There is no final form.
Just transformation.