Exclusive Track Premiere: ‘Ninety Nine Heaven,’ Nothing (Ryan Hemsworth Remix)

Unexpected pairings often yield the best results, and Ryan Hemsworth‘s remix of shoegaze band Nothing‘s track “Ninety Nine Heaven” is no exception. Premiering below, the song, which was originally comprised of dreamy guitar, a quietly wavering synth, and strong percussion, takes on new life with Hemsworth’s ethereal electronics and echoing vocal modification. Though Interview tends to avoid remixes, we couldn’t resist this perfect union, particularly because it was a deliberate effort.

Rather than simply passing the song from one hand to another thanks to management or record label connections, Nothing’s Domenic Palermo, who goes by Nicky, personally asked Hemsworth to reimagine the track and he couldn’t say no. “Nothing gives me hope for the 13- or 14-year-old kid right now who wants to learn guitar and can’t find any new good bands,” Hemsworth says. “I hope they find Guilty of Everything and listen to it 200 times and then Tired of Tomorrow 300 times. Nicky asked me to do a remix and I had to do it.”

“Ninety Nine Heaven” has a deep-rooted meaning, one only heightened by the new version’s wide electronic soundscape. “When I began writing this song, I envisioned dreams that would occur in my early teens when I started to deal with my earliest signs of fear and anxiety,” Palermo explains.

When Palermo was only 13 years old, a friend gave him LSD without warning. “I came home acting very erratic and my father, who had gone from being an abusive alcoholic to an abusive born-again Christian, held me in a corner and screamed in tongues while holding his hand across my forehead,” he continues. The physical abuse held a lasting effect. “I’d start to urinate in my bed from the horrible things my mind was projecting on myself; I started to try and keep myself awake by pretending I was a spy or soldier or someone who was braver,” Palermo explains. “Reality was hard to decipher during that time.”

FOR MORE ON NOTHING, VISIT THE BAND’S BANDCAMP, AND FOR MORE ON RYAN HEMSWORTH, VISIT HIS WEBSITE.