Four Tet’s 2003 folktronica masterpiece, Rounds, is getting a 10th anniversary reissue from Domino today (May 14), but Kieran Hebden decided to mark the occasion with his own special early-aughts re-release. On Monday (May 13), the U.K. DJ offered the original version of “Unspoken” on Twitter. The track had been reworked for the album because Hebden couldn’t get the okay to sample Tori Amos’ “Winter.”
“I had to change the track Unspoken for Rounds because a sample couldn’t get cleared,” Hebden tweeted. “Here’s the original version… it was the first track track I made for the album… this version is about 12 years old… we tried [to] get the Tori thing cleared for the reissue but it still didn’t work out.”
This vintage edit maintains the chilly, delicate atmosphere of the “official” rendition, but here Hebden’s craftsmanship feels a bit more muscular, bolstered by Amos’ unforgettable Little Earthquakes melody. Stream the original promo version of “Unspoken” below and download it here. And be sure to read our recent interview with Four Tet, Making the Rounds: Four Tet Looks Back at His Masterpiece.
