Ultra Naté delivers a remix pack quite literally for the ages as she and fellow producers Russell Small (The Freemasons) and DNO P unveil the full package for ‘HAPPY FEELING’, alongside the long-awaited official video for the blistering original cut.
“A clip to go with “HAPPY FEELING” was really imperative for me,” Ultra comments, “and it had to convey not only how the song makes me feel, but how I want the viewer to feel. Lots of popping color in an iconic locale was immediately the plan. What better place than my favorite quickie getaway – Miami! Aside from the gorgeous sun, beach and palm trees, there’s Miami’s glitzy energy on the backdrop of a rich, cultural landscape. I wanted to capture all of that, and I’ve been super lucky to find such a talented DP like Katie Simbala and an amazing team of creatives to help bring the concept to life! “
Brimming with vibrant colour and energy, the video more than matches the single’s upbeat energy shot by shot, its visuals underscoring the track’s message of positivity and providing the perfect doorway to a huge run of remixes that drop on the same day.
Running the historical gamut of house music, the curated selection moves from 70’s-inspired nu disco and 80’s-etched synth pop to booty luv house, bass-centric NYC underground and mainstage rave-up anthems. Remixes and reworks coming from Cevin Fisher, Les Bisous, Slowz, D’Angello & Francis, 808 BEACH and Odyssey Inc.
“It’s time to sprinkle some happy dust on clubland dance floors!” says Ultra. “I’m really proud of this collection of remixes and it’s timed perfectly as we move through Spring into the Summer season. The HAPPY FEELING remix package gives you everything from poolside cool to peak hour bangers, but most importantly it’s a feel good tune that makes you sing-a-long and gets stuck in your head! The goal when I wrote this song, was to remind us all that no matter how dark and bleak things can get, there is still something transcendental about music.”
Inspired by vintage Giorgio Moroder – Odyssey Inc. set their flag in the sand from the moment the needle drops. Delivering a remix designed to shred the dance floor, Mark Jones and Paul Gullefer’s take is thunderous, relentless, driving, and absolutely dripping in tuff-disco glamour. Slowz lives up to his name, bringing the tempo right back down, infusing the single with soft percussive pads and twinkling, delicate synth runs that drench everything in shimmering shades of delicate, Miami, 80s-style pop.
John “J-C” Carr and Bill Coleman’s 808 BEACH mix harkens back to a classic era of US House music. Their chugging, jackin’, peak-time driver is the perfect conduit for Ultra’s vocal to soar across the top, pulling and accentuating the strings of the original to maximum effect. Having collaborated with Ultra on 2023’s Top 5 Pointer Sisters’ rework, ‘DANGEROUS (So Dare Me)’, Les Bisous drop a preppy, peppy Summer disco edit that runs Stock Aitken Waterman-influenced brass and synth sections alongside a bubbly, French touch bassline.
The surprise mix of the pack belongs to Belgium’s D’Angello & Francis of Smash The House. Straying away from traditional funk and house elements, the pair swing in a rave-ier edit, ramping the BPMs up for a cut that wouldn’t be out of place on the hard house and trance dance floors of the late 90s and early 00s, or the new generation of clubbers demanding their anthems be harder and faster. Leaning into the trademark and pioneering Freemasons elements of Russell Small that allowed him to stand shoulder the shoulder with the likes of Guetta, Sinclar, Basement Jaxx et al – the strings, piano, and swirling guitars – the Happy Faith remix celebrates everything the classic Funky House era had to offer.
Taking ‘HAPPY FEELING’ up to current times, and already proving a major hit on Traxsource where they enjoyed an early exclusive release, are the Top 10 Cevin Fisher Remix and Cevin Fisher Beats Remix. The former is a boiling deep house cut, the latter a scorching tribal take, both a willing celebrant of Ultra’s vocal topline by one of New York’s finest. Finally topping the remix package off is the favourite Original Club Mix which was the package’s inaugural single release.
