Abstract Crimewave’s “The Gambler” gets a vibraphone-heavy remix featuring the vocals of Lykke Li
Before I get into the new single, let’s do a little deep dive. Because there are probably a lot of names that you will recognize in this story, but I think they are all coming together in a new context that I didn’t appreciate when I first came across this track.
First, let’s talk about the Swedish duo, Abstract Crimewave. Originally I thought to myself, ‘oh, a new band I haven’t heard of.’ With a bit of research you learn that actually this duo is not new at all. They’ve been making music for decades. They’ve been making music together as a duo (including recording a couple of records together) but also producing many of the big acts that have defined the scene for the last twenty years. So it was sort of an epiphany when I learned that Björn Yttling (Peter Bjorn and John) and Joakim Åhlund (Les Big Byrd, Caesars, Teddybears) were the two men behind Abstract Crimewave.
This is all to say that these guys have been making music for a while. The reason we can all be forgiven for not being familiar with their moniker, “Abstract Crimewave,” is because they weren’t always called that. Back in 2012 when they released their debut album, A Flash in the Night they were called “Smile.”
But let’s rewind back even further. For the avid music fan, “Smile” had already been used as a name for another group of well-known musicians. Namely, the trio that preceded the band Queen. Before Freddie joined the group in 1970, Brian May, Tim Staffell, and Roger Taylor were in a band called “Smile.” But that’s not all. The smiles continued when another trio who you might be familiar with — Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner — got together and called their new band “The Smile.” With that, Björn and Joakim decided it was time to loose their smile.
“We never would have changed our name,” explains Joakim, “but those guys from Radiohead, they stole it! And it looks like they aren’t going to quit, and they’re on some huge record label, so we were always going to be the other Smile if we continued. But our new name is way better than Smile, anyway. So they can have it.”
Names and smiles aside, the point of the story is that Abstract Crimewave is a bit of a silent powerhouse. Besides successfully releasing albums together (their latest album won “Best Pop 2025” at the equivalent of the Swedish Grammys) they’ve both been behind some mega artists as producers. Joakim has written and produced for Robyn, Charli XCX, and Giorgio Moroder while Bjorn has produced and written for Lykke Li, Primal Scream, First Aid Kit, Franz Ferdinand, and Neko case (not to mention all the success he had with in Peter Bjorn and John).
I know what you are thinking at this point: “James, what about the vibraphone-heavy remix.” Yes, yes, we all need more vibraphone in our life, and that’s exactly what we are going to get.
Last month, Björn’s impromptu jazz collective, Yttling Jazz, released a jazz remix of one of the singles from the latest Abstract Crimewave album, The Longest Night. The single he chose to remix off the album is called “The Gambler,” and it features vocals from Lykke Li. And yes, it goes big on the vibraphone.
“It was really interesting making this remix version of the song,” admits Björn when talking about the new version of the song. “Partly because it’s a song I was originally part of writing, but also because I decided to make a jazz version of it. As we all know, mixing jazz and pop can result in very, very dreadful results, but this time we got lucky! Interesting how Lykke’s beautiful vocals really pop out in this more acoustic environment.”
I couldn’t agree more. I think I actually prefer it to the original. Stream the remix below, and have a listen to the original on their album The Longest Night to see what you think.
Abstract Crimewave x Lykke Li – The Gambler (Remix by Yttling Jazz )
Cover photo (of Björn) by Johan Bergmark
