{"id":76588,"date":"2026-11-06T17:17:39","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/06\/porter-robinson-pinkpantheress-zara-larsson-revive-pop-remix-albums\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T17:17:39","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:17:39","slug":"porter-robinson-pinkpantheress-zara-larsson-revive-pop-remix-albums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/06\/porter-robinson-pinkpantheress-zara-larsson-revive-pop-remix-albums\/","title":{"rendered":"Porter Robinson, PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson Revive Pop Remix Albums"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tWhen Underscores joined Porter Robinson<\/a> on the <\/em>Smile! :\u200aD <\/em><\/a>tour in 2025, she noticed something unusual about his set. \u201cPerfect Pinterest Garden,\u201d a showy deep cut from the musician\u2019s third studio album, didn\u2019t sound quite the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou\u2019re playing it one semitone down,\u201d she told him. Underscores would know \u2014 it\u2019s her favorite song on the maximalist pop record released in 2024, and she has an affinity for any song played in its original key. When Robinson made the adjustment during his next soundcheck, he saw her beaming.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat exact level of perception and specificity made Underscores a perfect recruit for Smile! :\u200aD Plus+, <\/em>an ambitious remix album that dismantles and reassembles Smile! :\u200aD<\/em> with appearances from 16 artists. During his hunt for collaborators, Robinson looked for people who bleed music. \u201cThey just care, and they\u2019re actually deeply passionate, and the details matter,\u201d he tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cThe things that people might not even be able to hear \u2014 those things matter to them.\u201d Underscores put her expertise to work on an explosive new version of \u201cPerfect Pinterest Garden\u201d alongside fellow pop disrupter Ninajirachi.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c[Underscores] and Nina just brought all of the life back into it,\u201d Robinson says. \u201cThe added verses, the re-recorded parts, the way it\u2019s kind of turned into an electro dance remix \u2014 it\u2019s just brimming with life now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRemix albums have been common practice for decades, but as audience attention spans dwindle and artists look for creative partnerships that are more personal <\/strong>than transactional, the pop remix album has an even greater function. Smile! :\u200aD Plus+ <\/em>follows recent releases from PinkPantheress<\/a>, , Charli XCX, and more in pouring a little more love and a little more life into community and collaboration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the Smile! :\u200aD <\/em>tour ended, Robinson passed his time playing DJ sets that turned up the energy on some of his most contemplative songs. Smile!<\/em> :\u200aD <\/em>is his most cerebral release, a meticulous assessment of parasocial fan culture and external pressure that turns inwards. \u201cI realized that a lot of people in the world had this notion of me that was just a totally incomplete piece of the picture, and that was scary to me,\u201d Robinson says. He communicates so much on the record, but figured if anyone didn\u2019t get it the first time, Smile! :\u200aD Plus+ <\/em>might break through to them. \u201cI care so much more about my pop songs than about high energy DJing,\u201d he says. \u201cI like both, but I care about my songs the very most.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tRobinson gave his Smile! :\u200aD Plus+ <\/em>guests their pick of the original track list. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to force it,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to make them do a song that they weren\u2019t feeling.\u201d This applied even to songs already claimed by other artists \u2014 it\u2019s why there are four new versions of \u201cCheerleader\u201d and three of \u201cIs There Really No Happiness?\u201d, including one from Frost Children<\/a>. The electronic duo of Angel and Lulu Prost are the only featured guests who also appeared on the original album. But where \u201cMona Lisa\u201d takes a classic pop approach to affection, their distortion of the melancholic \u201cIs There Really No Happiness?\u201d amplifies progressive trance gate elements Robinson hinted at on his own. He\u2019s always felt the song never got its proper due.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI always thought if you stripped the instrumental and just heard the vocal, you would hear it as this beautiful EDM melody,\u201d says Lulu. \u201cI wanted to pick one that wasn\u2019t already pretty hype and turn it into something a lot more crazy.\u201d Angel started by crafting a melody out of vocal chops from Robinson\u2019s acapella recording. Frost Children\u2019s dance music <\/strong>DNA took over from there. The final version runs for seven minutes, nearly twice as long as the original. \u201cYou could play this entire thing in a set and it takes you on a journey you get lost in,\u201d Lulu adds. \u201cOld trance songs are like 10 minutes long, and it\u2019s just looping, and then finally a euphoric melody comes in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tFrost Children attempted to trim their edit down, but found themselves wondering, \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of making a remix if you\u2019re gonna compromise everything again, anyways?\u201d These days, the duo have an influx of remix requests coming in. Signing on for Smile! :\u200aD Plus+ <\/em>was an obvious yes \u2014 Lulu got a tattoo for Robinson\u2019s album Worlds <\/em>when they were 17 and attempted to hide it from him while they worked together. \u201cIn high school, that era of Porter\u2019s music meant a lot to us and still does,\u201d they say. \u201cI was too embarrassed to show him.\u201d When Lulu finally revealed it, Robinson admitted he knew the whole time.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWithin this last year, we\u2019ve seen the rise of so many artists who I think themselves would say that they grew up on my albums,\u201d Robinson says. Being able to call on those artists now positions him as something of a mentor, but he\u2019s also a fan. \u201cNinajirachi, Underscores, Frost Children, they\u2019re forging their own path,\u201d he adds. \u201cThey have a machete and they\u2019re cutting through the wilderness and discovering something new.\u201d The admiration is mutual, even as they become collaborators and friends. \u201cAll of us are gagged that we\u2019re talking to him,\u201d Angel says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson liked the Frost Children version of \u201cIs There Really No Happiness?\u201d, but suggested they change just one chord to create a more euphoric feeling. It made all the difference. Before, Frost Children were never really sure how to make notes without overstepping. It\u2019s something they\u2019ll carry into their own work. Compromise is an essential component of collaboration \u2014 like when producer Margo XS had to sacrifice some of the ambient dreamscape French musician Malibu created for \u201cSaturn\u2019s Return\u201d from Zara Larsson\u2019s expansive remix album Midnight Sun: Girl\u2019s Trip<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was definitely too sleepy to get everybody, including the label, on board to put on a mainstream pop remix album,\u201d Margo says. <\/em>She restructured the song with songwriter Helena Gao, but saved Malibu\u2019s mystique for the end, which brought an airy feel to its introspection. Margo and Larsson went into Girl\u2019s Trip<\/em> imagining what it would be like to make Midnight Sun <\/em>over again, this time with the creative familiarity they\u2019ve fortified in the past year. In that time, the album marked a true, long-awaited breakout<\/a> for Larsson. Girl\u2019s Trip<\/em> allowed her to let that moment breathe, and share it with 13 other artists, including Margo, JT, Tyla, Robyn, and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tLarsson initially planned to release a traditional deluxe edition of Midnight Sun<\/em>, with a few remixes and new songs. But Margo and MNEK, who also worked on the record, \u201cfelt a lot of freedom and excitement by being able to take these stems and flip them on their head.\u201d It\u2019s how they ended up with an elevated R&B version of \u201cBlue Moon\u201d featuring Kehlani. Robinson felt similarly revitalized by stripping back to the bare bones. \u201cSome of the remixes are speaking to the DNA that was in the song from the very beginning in a roundabout way,\u201d he says. \u201cEasier to Love You,\u201d for example, started as a Eurodance song inspired by Gigi D\u2019Agostino\u2019s \u201cI\u2019ll Fly Away With You,\u201d but ended up as a sensitive guitar ballad. Smile! :\u200aD Plus+ <\/em>brought that original sound back through Dutch hardstyle DJ Vertile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMargo describes the art of the remix album as community building, and sees it as a response to years of indifferent pop features that seemed to serve little creative purpose beyond boosting streams. \u201cOK, you got this feature \u2014 but the production doesn\u2019t change over it. It feels phoned in. It feels like you were just trying to maybe combine audiences and get some more love from the algorithm gods,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople got a bit fatigued from that way of working.\u201d A remix album, on the other hand, \u201cmakes it feel very intentional in these collaborations and allows people\u2019s identities to really flourish, and then continue to create a community around a certain style of music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe creation of Girl\u2019s Trip <\/em>overlapped with the release of Fancy Some More?, <\/em>a remix album from PinkPantheress that revamped her mixtape Fancy That<\/em>? \u201cWe were definitely inspired by her willingness to platform alternative producers and alternative voices on a pop record,\u201d Margo says. The project features everyone from JADE<\/a> and Anitta to Basement Jaxx and Kaytranada. \u201cIt just made it feel like the sky was the limit in terms of what we could do in terms of production and features.\u201d Like, Smile! :\u200aD Plus+,<\/em> Fancy Some More? <\/em>includes multiple configurations from different artists. There\u2019s a version of \u201cStateside\u201d with Kylie Minogue, another with Bladee, another with Groove Armada, and of course, the breakout remix<\/a> featuring a killer verse from Larsson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter trading aesthetics in the \u201cStateside\u201d video, PinkPantheress and Larsson appear together again on the Girl\u2019s Trip <\/em>version of \u201cMidnight Sun.\u201d An innovative producer herself<\/a>, PinkPantheress and her collaborator Count Baldor worked closely with Margo to shape the song. \u201cI really relate to how committed she is to doing a sonic aesthetic across a whole record,\u201d Margo says. Charli XCX was in the same headspace when she released Brat and It\u2019s Completely Different but Also Still Brat <\/em>in 2024. \u201cThere\u2019s still so many different versions of that song that could be made using a tiny element of the production from the original, or a tiny reference to a lyrical concept, or a literal lyric,\u201d she said at the time<\/a>. \u201cIt can all be deconstructed and put back together again. Why not? Why just be like, \u2018It\u2019s the album, and it\u2019s done?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe possibilities are endless, especially when it comes down to locking down features. For Girl\u2019s Trip<\/em>, Larsson reached out to potential collaborators via DMs, shifting her approach depending on whether she already had an existing relationship with them. Sometimes MNEK<\/a> made the connection. Margo can\u2019t quite remember which route led to Shakira featuring on \u201cEurosummer,\u201d but does recall the craziness of that particular yes. \u201cWe gotta figure this out,\u201d she thought. \u201cWe gotta make this a bop.\u201d It wasn\u2019t the only version they made. There\u2019s a \u201cEurosummer\u201d remix with Romanian dance-pop stars Alexandra Stan and Inna sitting on a computer somewhere. \u201cI know that has been very wanted by the internet, and there were a lot of rumors going around about it,\u201d Margo says. \u201cIt does exist. That\u2019s all I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson\u2019s process was far more free-flowing in comparison. He primarily reached out to friends and people he thought would be cool to spotlight, like the indie-pop singer EJEAN who he found through a twist of fate (read: Instagram Reels, in an incredibly rare instance, he says). \u201cI would love to hear your version of \u2018Year of the Cup\u2019 because I think you would make the most heartwrenching version of this,\u201d Robinson said in a message to EJEAN.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYear of the Cup\u201d is not really the kind of song you can flip. The original ballad samples a Lil Wayne interview from 2009 in a way that is both disjointed and completely enchanting. \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible to make a dance remix of it,\u201d Robinson says. EJEAN covered it instead. Their stripped back acoustic version is the standout moment on Smile! :\u200aD<\/em> Plus+<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt struck Robinson to process someone else singing words that hold so much weight to him. \u201cWhen I heard them say \u2018something\u2019s in the air like vanilla,\u2019 or these experiences where I know specifically where my two feet were in the world when those moments happened in my real life,\u201d he says, \u201cit gave me this twisted up feeling inside. It was like, \u2018I wonder what that means to them.\u2019\u201d Even beyond lyrics, the sheer tone of a voice can communicate emotion so differently. Turnstile<\/a> showed as much with Never Enough: Versions<\/em>, a 22-track cover project with a host of guests including Hayley Williams, Elton John, and A. G. Cook. \u201cYou put everything into making an album,\u201d Robinson says. \u201cAnything that you can do to refresh it and remind people of its importance and remind people of what it means to you, and extend its lifespan culturally \u2014 I think there\u2019s good reasons to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s a certain trust and vulnerability required to let another artist reconfigure songs born from such specific experiences and perspectives. Sometimes, doubt gets in the way. Robinson considered reaching out to Jane Remover to participate in Smile! :\u200aD<\/em> Plus+ <\/em>through the rapper-producer\u2019s EDM side project, Leroy. There were threads of influence and connection there, but they hadn\u2019t properly met before, so he decided against it. \u201cI was too shy to ask,\u201d he says. \u201cI should have just asked.\u201d He would have also loved to hear something from Smile! :\u200aD<\/em> <\/em>reimagined by a K-pop artist, like KiiiKiii or Aespa, similar to how PinkPantheress recruited Seventeen for \u201cIllegal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tThese crossovers are as exciting for the artists as they are for the audience. They offer something new without completely compromising the original listeners fell for, while also potentially expanding their palette. \u201cIt\u2019s a non-algorithmic, non-AI way of finding new things you like, and you\u2019ll never find the end of things that you like,\u201d says Angel. The special moments created on these projects \u2014 whether something as explosive as \u201cStateside,\u201d or Lorde and Charli XCX working it out on the \u201cGirl, So Confusing\u201d remix, or Robinson pouring back into a lineage of his own influence \u2014 are the product of true connection.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s so amazing for me to be able to hold hands with those people and the respect is so mutual,\u201d Robinson says. \u201cAnd doing it as a way of celebrating the album, it\u2019s a win-win for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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When Underscores joined Porter Robinson on the Smile! :\u200aD tour in 2025, she noticed something unusual about his set. \u201cPerfect Pinterest Garden,\u201d a showy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":76589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}