Morrocan-Canadian pop singer Faouzia’s song “Hero” garnered over five million streams and two million views on its music video in the first month after its release, as well as being featured on the cover of Apple Music’s New Music Daily playlist. She has also garnered praise from major voices such as Billboard, Consequence, and UPROXX, among others. Now she is back with a follow-up, a remix by French House legend Michael Calfan, who has remixed songs by artists such as Calvin Harris, Illenium, and Kiiara.
With her powerful, commanding voice, the 20-year-old breakout star is an obvious choice to go with Calfan’s intense deep house production style; the result is an irresistible summer banger with more than enough bounce to rock any club.
Calfan’s remix is full of movement and growth: rarely does a new section of the verse come and go without the addition or subtraction of a new instrument to the mix. He builds reliable pulsating synths that support Faouzia’s massive voice and adds to it a slowly growing bass, creating an extended buildup to the first drop without feeling gimmicky. The drum part builds up slowly, adding a new sound every few measures until it kicks into full gear as a minimalist four-on-the-floor groove when the drop finally hits. In that section, Calfan leaves words behind completely, transforming the vocals into a series of pulsating sounds that align with the pulse of the synths, giving the song a massive thump between the drum kicks.
The second drop is even more deconstructed, with nearly every instrument cutting out in the build-up and Calfan adding them back in one by one, along with massive drum rolls and chiming bells, leading up to a hugely dramatic drop with a throbbing pulse that mimics the heartbeat in Faouzia’s lyrics.
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