O here! 1996 seems like a ridiculously long time ago, but that’s when The Prodigy’s “Firestarter” was first released, standing out instantly from all the other stuff on Radio 1 that I was forced to listen to at work at the time. It’s since been hailed as a groundbreaking genre crossover track, and of course, featured the late great Keith Flint’s inspired and unforgettable vocal and screen presence.
All of which leads nicely up to February 2020, pre-pandemic, and pre-lockdown, when Andrea was over here in Scotland, and we were discussing unlikely songs that we could cover. “We should do Firestarter,” quoth I, after mimicking a measure or two with accompanying ridiculous head and arm movements. “Oooh!” quoth she. Out came the flute and pseudo-string quartet, for what better instrumentation could there be for such a song? And after some further lockdown-enhanced ridiculous head and arm movements, please allow us to present our own crossover version of Firestarter, with some of the delicate sounds and rhythms of the original recreated from the ground up for your listening pleasure.
Hey hey hey.