Colloquial tracks of North East pride from Sam Fender were an unlikely candidate for electronic duo Chase and Status, yet here it is. Getting Started is a fine choice for a remix, its bouncy opening puts it centre stage for the start of Fender gigs and a fine track it is. A fine track when it is not remixed and reworked into a track of complete, lacking versatility. There is an immediate sense of lacking place, power or feel to this remix that rips out the heart of Fender’s clear strokes of colloquial charm and replaces it instead with an incessant, dull beat.
Even Fender’s vocal range, which is stripped and thrown into the spotlight on this Chase and Status track, lacks presence. Catchy at the best of times, this Getting Started remix relies not on the talent Fender has as a musician but on his popularity. Chase and Status piggyback their way to relevance with a very poor mixture that at the very least does not drown out Fender’s vocals completely. There are the moments it does, with the slow rise and build from their production startlingly obvious in not just their beat but in the dichotomy presented between it and Fender’s talents. This is such a strange pairing that does nothing for either participating musician.
Separately, Chase and Status and Sam Fender are quality musicians. Together, a remix is created that never needed to see or hear the light of day. Completely awful and these results are to be expected. Completely banal and dull motions from Chase and Status do absolutely nothing but rinse the Fender charm down and add nothing new in its place. Diluting a good track is unforgivable, failing to adapt or create something new in the wake of its absence is even worse. Beyond all the technical failures and vocal flubbing, Getting Started, more than anything, is just plain boring. That is not to be expected from the past Chase and Status pieces, especially not since their record this year was vaguely fun. None of that makes the transfer to this cheap and lazy reworking which barely covers its mundane tracks.
Instead of morphing their sound around the Fender lyrics they pick and choose, there is a complete failure to adapt anything at all from Chase and Status here. One chorus repeated over and over with no presence or standout moment at any point in the track. At its best, it can be used as a warm-up filler for crowds of people in live performances. An active choice to listen to this track is fascinating given how little it does for either artist. Equivalent experiences would be providing yourself with a round of tinnitus and sticking your head close to a radio blasting out the Fender original. Although that does sound preferable if the only other option is another go around with this Chase and Status disaster. They chase Fender’s popularity wave, and their status as prominent electronic pop mixers is questioned after such a botched job is released, with palpable disgust.
