U Smile if you want to

This is quite amazing – a haunting, floating thirty-five minute soundscape reminiscent of early Sigur Rós work, particularly their weird, ambient first album. The track is by Shamantis, an American music producer.

It’s currently viral on Twitter, because it is not just any soundscape masterpiece – it’s Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber’s song “U Smile”, slowed down 800%.

I hope my view that it’s a gorgeous reworking in its own right, never mind simply being notable because of its origins in teen-pop, is persuasive given that I’d never actually heard of Justin Bieber until just now.

No, honestly, I’d not. Maybe I’d heard the name somewhere before, but I had no idea who he was when I stumbled across the Shamantis track on Twitter earlier and had to google him to remind myself of exactly who he was.

Only after did I listen to the Shamantis reworking did I listen to the original “U Smile” on YouTube.

And I really, really wish I hadn’t.

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