You can’t have missed it. It is arguably one of the most enchanting adverts to grace tv screens for a while: Gene Kelly singing, dancing and breakdancing in the rain to praise the merits of a German car. At that moment when you’re usually hitting the mute switch on the remote control (or running for the toothbrush), you find yourself whistling and in a surprisingly good mood. It’s amazing what technology can do these days. What could easily have turned into a recipe for disaster – if placed in the wrong hands – has instead materialised into a beautiful hybrid, one foot in the 21st century whilst remaining faithful to the spirit of the classic 1952 Stanley Donen musical. Mint Royale have always been rather good at stretching, chopping, twisting, metamorphosing all kind of source material but here they’ve outdone expectations by coming up with a bit of a masterpiece – that bassline’s too pleasing to be real. From the short version, which starts off with a snippet off the movie (similar to the ad), to the 12″ mix, which cleverly takes the concept further by going for a full extended structure on an electro-breaks tip, the Manchester boys have done a fine tailoring job. Who would have thought ‘Singing In The Rain’ could have got sparked up so efficiently without a hint of bad taste? This timeless rendition, playful yet inspiring, could easily crash the top 5 – Elvis/Junkie XL stylee.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: JERRY BOUTHIER
