‘Wide Awake (gLAdiator Trap Refix)’ by Katy Perry

Originally one of three new tracks tacked onto her completely unnecessary re-release of Teenage Dream (it had already sold infinity copies), ‘Wide Awake’ is notable for being one of Perry’s most mature sounding songs to date. A comfortably mid-tempo power ballad carried by booming drums and bittersweet sentiments, Perry proves that she’s much easier to gravitate to when not couching her talents in cheap pop culture winks or disposable, flavour-of-the-week production values. There’s actually some heft here. I also like LA duo gLAdiator’s take on it though, with its incongruously tittering drum trills and punctuating male chants turning it into a kind of weirdly affecting, power pop ballad for the hood?

(via Dödselectro)