CIFIKA reworks Romy's (The xx) “Lifetime”

Seoul-based electronic producer CIFIKA reworks Romy’s (The xx) “Lifetime”

Release Date: September 20th, 2021 Label: Soap Seoul Format: Digital

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Romy first came across ‘Waterfall’ from CIFIKA’s HANA at the end of 2020, quickly adding it to her Emotional Music To Dance To playlist; it's become one of her favourite songs since. So much, that The xx singer/guitarist felt compelled to invite her to remix her debut single, ‘Lifetime’. Conversely, CIFIKA has been a fan of Romy for years, spending many late nights listening to The xx with her friends while in college.      Although originally approached to remix, it soon became apparent to CIFIKA that she would instead 'Lifetime' into a new form, fully recomposed and re-tracked. The end result is a stunning, re-composed interpretation, with CIFIKA’s soaring vocals threading Romy’s original lyrics and a newly-penned Korean-language verse through mechanical beats and pulsing synths. While the original is a celebratory, colorful Eurodance-inspired floor filler, CIFIKA takes “Lifetime” to the darker corners of the dance floor, while embracing the spirit and euphoria of the original.      “Hearing CIFIKA’s version with the minor chords and it really going to that deeper emotional level with it was so cool," said Romy. " I’d never heard it like that before. It’s been such a nice exchange to make a song and then hear it reinterpreted and what it means to her. It’s really inspiring to me.”      "The bittersweet happy/sad feeling from Romy’s song made me start the remix – I thought that was so interesting," says CIFIKA. "I visualize all my songs before I produce them... with 'Lifetime', it sounded like Japanese animation but an English version. I included a Korean verse – that part is dystopian, people were far away but in your dream, your loved one would come, whispering close to your side. I was imagining that in slow motion as an original soundtrack to our anime version of 'Lifetime'.”

About CIFIKA:      Every popular movement in music has both a rush of acts ready to jump on a trend and typically, a polarizing underground that exists explicitly to counter it. This is the case everywhere, and South Korea, where K-Pop dominates, is no different. Seoul-based electronic producer CIFIKA is a rare example of an artist who isn’t chasing fame, or pushing it away. She lives in the space in between, embracing both pop and the avant in a way that any musician would envy.     Her ambient vocal experimentations were used in the Men’s Fall-Winter 2021 Louis Vuitton campaign and runway show (with House Ambassadors BTS). Boiler Room tapped her for a conceptual video performance series with Maison Valentino. She’s scored a robot/human choreographed work for the Korean National Contemporary Dance Company and has been invited to conceptualize, create and soundtrack an installation piece for ISM Berlin’s acclaimed Hexadome project (alongside Thom Yorke, Brian Eno, Suzanne Ciani, and Holly Herndon), proving her to be as comfortable with the highbrow as she is in the club.    As a collaborator, CIFIKA has worked with a diverse range of artists ranging from ambient/IDM, to UK garage, hip-hop, and R&B including Lusine (Ghostly International), Girl Ultra, Flava D, Hyukoh, Crush, Woo Won-jae, and Dress.    Having already sparked a flurry of interest outside of Korea, via performances at SXSW, ADE, Reeperbahn, and with a handful of buzz-generating club shows, CIFIKA now looks to bring her sound and vision to the rest of the world.