An excellent Tegan & Sara remix

Cast your mind back to December 2011. We Found Love was in the top 10; Little Mix were about to win the X Factor; Azealia Banks was still considered a thing.

Around that time, I also happened across a new singer called That Girl With Dark Eyes - real name Tiffany Garrett Sotomayor - who had been recording some very interesting pop music with Pascal Gabriel of Goldfrapp and Ladyhawke and Blondie fame. Half Spanish, half American, she was recording in France, using synths made in Japan. It was very exciting from an international relations perspective.

Such is the lugubrious pace of the music business that TGWDE is only just getting ready to release her first official EP. A video, Lonely As A Wolf, is due to premiere on the internet (how modern) later this month. BUT FIRST, here is a remix she has done of Tegan & Sara's Closer.

TGWDE gets out her magic duster and polishes an already shiny song to a blinding gleam. It's a clever, subtle reworking - a few more synth pads here, a little funky riff there - but it pinpoints why we should be getting excited about her solo material. Here's a woman that really understands how to fine-tune a pop song.

Listen below, and download it for free on TGWDE's Soundcloud page.

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How about we call the band "Vomit Spasm"?

Sound the nomenclature alarm: We have run out of proper names for new bands.

Otherwise, how do you explain the existence of "The Cast Of Cheers", "Suck Piggy", "Nipplepotamus", "Me and the Neck" and, my personal favourite, "Supersonic Piss"?

I only mention it because someone has just emailed me new material from a Spanish artist who goes by the name of That Girl With Dark Eyes. That's like calling a book "The Papery Thing With Ink In It" or releasing a film under the title "A Series Of Rapidly Changing Still Images Which Create The Impression Of Motion Due To The Phenomenon Of Persistence Of Vision".

Maybe I'm being unfair here. Maybe Tiffany Garrett Sotomayor (for it is she) is a big fan of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo but hasn't got a distinguishing body marking she can describe in her nom de tune. And at least the title is accurate: She genuinely has got dark eyes. Two of them.

But if I were her manager, I'd suggest a new moniker - That Girl Who Has Been Recording Some Very Promising Music With Pascal Gabriel Who Did The Ladyhawke Album.

Here are two of her recent demos. If you're into Yelle or Goldfrapp or Little Boots, these will definitely be of interest.

Drop It by that girl with dark eyes


Balloon by that girl with dark eyes


PS: The Onion has an annual feature rounding up the worst band names of the year. The 2011 list is really quite something - read it here.

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