If you’ve been following The Chainsmokers for as long as I have – and trust me, it’s been quite the roller coaster ride thus far – you’ll remember the days when they were banging out remix after remix for various indie bands of the bubbly, pop-house variety. Now, everybody knows them from “Closer” or “Don’t Let Me Down,” or god forbid “#SELFIE,” but screw it, we’re going to take a stroll down memory lane with this piece.
Now, The Chainsmokers have been tearing up HypeMachine, YouTube, SoundCloud, and more for a good two years before they put out “#SELFIE.” Thankfull,y you have me to handpick for you the seven of their finest songs from back in the day.
This will probably always remain my favorite song by Drew and Alex. Somehow, the duo transforms Say Lou Lou’s late-night driving classic into an upbeat, poppy progressive house tune more suited for the pre-game rather than the drive home. In any case, stream the original if you’ve never heard it. It’s beautiful.
Fun fact of the day: The Chainsmokers remixed Tove Lo way back in the day and it’s fire. The drop is quintessential ‘2014 The Chainsmokers,’ and having a Tove Lo acapella to work with probably doesn’t hurt either.
This is probably the remix by remix-era The Chainsmokers, and the first ever song I heard by them… so yay! Another victory for memory lane! The build-up is gold and the breakdown keeps the suspense going just enough for you to go all out on the dance floor by the time the drop hits.
Phoenix remains one of my favorite bands to this day and Drew and Alex certainly did “Trying To Be Cool” justice with their feel-good, poppy rendition of the indie classic. It might be October right now, but having listened to this once again, I’m certainly in the mood for summer!
It wouldn’t be fun to only include remixes, so enjoy the first ever song posted by The Chainsmokers on SoundCloud. While “Erase” doesn’t seem to be their first ever single, despite being the oldest track on their SoundCloud, it does feature vocals from Miss World 2000-winner Priyanka Chopra, so we can probably count that as a win. Bonus points for the old-school cigarette-incorporated logo. Thank God that’s done with!
Compared to all the other songs I’ve posted so far, their remix of “Medicine” by Daughter stands out for being the most mellow of the bunch. While the song does pick up to finally drop three minutes in, the unusually long (and downtempo) build-up is a thing of beauty.
Okay, I technically cheated on this final song as it came out a few weeks after “#SELFIE” but who’s really counting at this point. Bubbly and energetic, what’s there not to like about this remix of “Wonder?”
Featured Image Source: Steven Lawton
