Song of the Day 5/29: Gotye, “Somebody That I Used to Know”

This song has been having a moment – I’ve heard it recently not only on the radio but on the supermarket muzak, and it showed up in my YouTube feed. I thought this was just the random output of an algorithm that decided the No. 1 hit of the year in 2012 was ripe for a comeback.

Turns out it was, but not because of an algorithm. Three electronic artists released a remix of the song that adds a stronger beat, turning the indie art-rock curiosity into a dance-worthy club banger. They dubbed it “Somebody 2024” when they released it in February, and it’s behind the tune’s resurgence.

The remix completes the popularity cycle. When it went to No. 1 in various countries and made Belgian-born Australian Wally de Backer famous, its ubiquity bred lots of backlash – it frequently turned up on “most annoying song” listicles throughout the 2010s. Because the remix is just the original song with more percussion, there’s been a new appreciation of the original, which turned out to be the last music De Backer released as Gotye. Fun fact: The backdrop of the video is based on a 1980s painting by his father, Frank de Backer.

Gotye was a sound collagist. Except for the vocals by him and Kimbra and some xyplophone, “Somebody That I Used to Know” is made up entirely of samples, some manipulated, others just snipped to fit. This video breaks down all of them and how Gotye pieced them together.

Though de Backer said in 2014 that he would produce no more Gotye music, he’s still active, especially on a passion project to make more people aware of the Ondioline, an analog device that was a precursor to the synthesizer. Here he is with his Ondioline Orchestra at a 2016 tribute concert to the instrument’s inventor, Jean-Jacques Perrey, who built, played and wrote music for the device.