Single Review: Neon Indian – Hex Girlfriend (Twin Shadow remix)

Neon Indian, the brainchild of 20-year-old Alan Palomo, has been earning strong critical notices since debut record Psychic Chasms hit the shelves in 2009.The band and its leader Palomo have been startlingly busy ever since, finding time to release two more albums, Mind CTRL: Psychic Chasms Possessed and 2011’s Era Extrana. Neon Indian has been credited with forming a new genre of electronic music, which has been unhelpfully labelled everything from hypnagogic pop, glo-fi and chillwave. This adventurousness saw them tapped to perform at top festivals such as South by Southwest and Bonnaroo, and opening for such highly respected bands like Massive Attack and The Flaming Lips to Phoenix.

Now the busy Neon Indian has announced an exclusive release for Record Store Day, the “Hex Girlfriend” 10″, featuring the album version of the track as the A-Side and the Twin Shadow remix of the same song as the B-Side. The 10″ is limited to a mere 500 copies and will only be available on April 21, which is Record Store Day. The Twin Shadow remix of the song is available to download for free and will appeal to those Twin Shadow fans waiting for the next project or Neon Indian completists. Beginning with what sounds like a church organ, the song then bounces along on distant clattering beats, complemented with synths and an eerie vocal. Worth the free download but not ground breaking.

By William David Wilson