A couple of weeks ago, as I sat in the living room of my Brooklyn apartment, I heard a familiar xylophonic riff reverberating from a car's subwoofers on the street. I thought, "Is someone really blasting Gotye's 2012 smash hit 'Somebody That I Used To Know' right now?" Turns out it was actually "Anxiety," a song Doechii first self-released years ago but just formally re-released as a proper studio single earlier this month. It prominently samples "Somebody That I Used To Know," which might raise the question: What are those xylophone thumpers up to know?
Before Gotye was Gotye, he was Wally De Backer, founding member of the Aussie rock band the Basics. The Basics didn't perform on the famous studio version of "Somebody That I Used To Know," but they've played the song together before, and Gotye has remained somewhat active in the band ever since. Now, the Basics are apparently prepping their first new album in six years, with a new single on the way.
"We’ve done something a bit different with this one, as Apple Music keeps telling us that we’ve got a sizeable audience in the ex-Soviet bloc," the Basics wrote on Instagram. "We’ve written and recorded a song for that part of the world. As such, there will be some people that don’t get it, and won’t like it. That’s ok, there’s more music coming beyond that."
The new song is called "Законопослушный гражданин," which translates to "Don’t Be Deceived." Should be interesting! But what's equally interesting is how "Somebody That I Used To Know" seems to keep finding new life over a decade later. Doechii's now a Grammy-winning rapper, and "Anxiety" has just become her first-ever Top 10 hit. I wonder if people in the ex-Soviet bloc like "Anxiety" too.
See the Basics' announcement post below.
