SIMON CURTIS, Super 8bitHeart
No music could be more welcome in 2016 than the songs of the 2010 free download album 8bit Heart by L.A.-based singer/songwriter Simon Curtis. Before you read further you might want to check out my original post on 8bitHeart right here – some of my opinions have changed, obviously, as have some facts (no autotone – it’s all Simon!). Simon has essentially created a new album of these songs called Super 8bit Heart to set the stage for his upcoming series of Boy Robot books, to be published by Simon & Schuster starting in November, which are based on the songs from 8bit Heart.
I have some personal anecdotes about 8bit Heart before I comment on the new album. 8bit Heart arrived as I was going through probably the most difficult period of my life. The 3D songs revolving around the Boy Robot character with themes of loneliness, desire, humanity, hope, and sex, were the perfect distraction for me at the time, and the huge Twitter campaign behind the record was first massive social networking experience for me. So many people like me absolutely adore these songs and I’m glad Simon chose to go back to revisit them and launch his publishing career with their stories. Songs from 8bit Heart dominated the BILLCS Top 30 in 2010 – “Beat Drop” #1 of that year, plus #1’s for the title song, “Delusional”, and #3 for “Joystick”. I was fortunate enough to meet and see the singer himself in concert in NYC the following year. Subsequent releases from R∆ and his Wrathschild project with Bad W0lfy continue to be active in my iTunes playlist 🙂
Super 8bit Heart must be taken totally separately from 8bit Heart, which simply stands on its own. I expect the new album is essentially the electronic soundtrack to Simon’s Boy Robot books, and the edgy anger and pointed swearing in some of original songs are now muted for a wider audience. They will certainly fit in with current dance music in clubs and I would love to hear remixes.
The big emotion of “8bit Heart” (below) is the highlight, and the new music backdrop is highly complimentary. To me this is the song to focus on with its universal message. I kind of miss the lonely simple piano of the original but it’s easy to treat the two versions separately. As with the original songs, Simon’s far-reaching voice is stunning as ever. Other highlights include “Super Psycho Love”, “Delusional”, “The Dark”, “Diablo” (which has been lengthened), and “Brainwash”, which all benefit from more current arrangements which suit their powerful lyrics. On the other hand, I must stick with the originals of “Beat Drop” (also lengthened), “Joystick”, and “Don’t Wanna Be Alone” – the new arrangements for these songs take them in a different direction and don’t work for me.
Super 8bit Heart will never replace 8bit Heart for me, and the original is still available for free download from Simon’s website. But it’s your opportunity to get to know the songs in new renditions particularly if you hadn’t discovered the originals previously. These songs deserve more fans to help to continue and champion Simon’s many talents and of course to support his on-deck side career as an author. Welcome back to the songs of 8bit Heart and Simon Curtis 😀 Pick up Super 8bit Heart on iTunes.
BILLCSMUSIC BLOG 
You must be logged in to post a comment.