Australian trio SAFIA are riding high right now. Their recently released EP, Embracing Me, has been going down a storm and attracting a whole lot of buzz online with its achingly cool electro-soul vibes and RnB flavoured, spacey production. With their sights firmly set on the zeitgeist, SAFIA make the kind of music that’s just as likely to have you throwing moves on the tiles as it is to soothe you home on the evening commute. In other words, our kind of band.

Last year’s hit “Counting Sheep” won them a spot supporting Lorde on tour and now they’ve got remix recognition from Annie Mac-favourite Aprés, whose take on their EP’s title track we are proud to be premiering exclusively here. It’s an uptempo delight with a perfect groove to kick off the Bank Holiday with. In honour of the prem, we chat to SAFIA about their top remixes, their impending UK tour, and why every song needs its story.

The remix gives “Embracing Me” a more up-tempo sound, how are you guys feeling it?

We love how the Aprés remix focuses on subtly developing a groove over the course of the track. It would have been very easy to go down the pop avenue & focus on using the vocal but we love how he has made it his own creating new elements while sparingly using the vocal very tastefully.

A bunch of your own songs have been remixed. What’s been your favourite so far?

We always love hearing other artists’ interpretations of our music. We particularly like it when people make it their own rather than just putting a stylised beat over the already existing stems. We’ve loved all the remixes we’ve received over the years in their own way but some of the remixes we still have on the way for Embracing Me EP including the Aprés one are definitely some of favourite to date.

You’re getting ready for a UK tour, how are you feeling about it?

We love the UK & are pretty excited to be heading back over in June especially as that means we’ll be escaping our winter and enjoying an English summer. The few shows we have done in the UK have all been really positive so we’re keen to get back and play again now that we’ve realised the EP.

Tell us about your EP… what are some of the ideas behind it and your biggest influences?

The EP I think really show cases our vast array of influences & backgrounds. We all play multiple instruments & all write & produce so I think that’s the reason why the tracks are always so diverse. We wanted each song to take on a life of its own songs where when you listen to them you imagine imagery, stories and visuals, rather than a band performing them.

What is your favourite song from the EP and why?

We love all the songs equally for different reasons. We don’t ever set ourselves restrictions when writing so that makes all the tracks feel very different from each other & unique in their own way. But at the moment my (Ben) personal favourite would have to be “Make them Wheels Roll” probably because it’s a lot newer than some of the other tracks on the EP & also because the production has a real warmth & depth to that you can really get lost in.

You remix tracks yourselves – what is your main focus/aim when doing so?

Remixing is very different to writing originals because you’re starting with a finished product & working backwards to create something new. Our aim is always to treat it like we’re writing a new song of our own rather than having it fit a mould to be played in a club by some DJ. So we tend to only use the vocal or main hook & build a brand new song around that.