sudan is a producer-songwriter whose debut album is going to be out soon, and his promotional cycle has been rather interesting so far. He released a single ‘omg’ back in March, then ‘trouble’ a month later, and he has now followed it up with… a stripped-back version of ‘omg’, the previous single. Now, this is noteworthy because artists wait until their album is out and has been gigged for many months before putting out alternate versions of their material. sudan has done the exact opposite, so now we have two versions of the same single to talk about. Fun!

The original version of the song is a very modern low-key pop tune with electronic influences all over the place. There’s piano and keys to back up a stuttery groove, layered with some arpeggiated synths and a forlorn vocal delivery that fully encapsulates what this decade’s love songs have sounded like. While the track does open up towards its conclusion with more ‘tangible’ elements, there’s this quiet and understated but strong sense of melody coupled with nods to the electronic music of the last few decades; ‘trouble’ really leans into the strange 2-step/garage revival that Pinkpantheress has been at the forefront of, but ‘omg’ is much slower and outwardly vibe-y. Right, so that’s version 1.

Now, the second version is way more stripped back and turns into what can easily pass for a singer-songwriter ballad that will be on every playlist that has a picture of rain on its cover. You know the type, right? The vocals (including an appearance from Anika) are much more flamboyant and sprinkled with R&B touches, all the synths are replaced by guitars and possibly a uke, and this is enough to make the exact same melodies and structure to do a complete about-face. This one is much more for the more emotionally direct listener, and it does confirm the theory that doing this might be quite the interesting idea. It’s obvious that sudan has done his due diligence and maintained a clear creative process for both attempts, but the results might have a curious effect; you could potentially listen to the regular single at the beginning of the night and then the stripped-back version at the end of it. That’s clever.