Justice on their “beautiful rejection letter” to remixing Tame Impala song: “We couldn’t do anything to it”

French electronic duo Justice are about to release their first project in nearly eight years, Hyperdrama. The album is set to host a flurry of guest appearances, most notably from Tame Impala.

The record features two tracks featuring the indie psychedelia wizard, but it’s not the first time Tame Impala – Kevin Parker – has tried to work with Justice. Parker actually wanted Justice to remix his 2012 track Elephant – but Justice refused to touch it.

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In a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Justice admit that they thought the track was already perfect. “Before [the album] Lonerism came out, we received a remix request for Elephant,” Xavier de Rosnay recalls. “But we couldn’t do anything to it!”

Gaspard Augé chimes in, recalling the duo’s shock upon first hearing the track. “I remember [first hearing] Elephant… We weren’t jealous but we are like, ‘Wow!’,” he explains. De Rosnay jumps back in, adding “it’s very rare that everybody agrees about something [but] everybody was like ‘Okay this is so good.’”

As Lowe notes, the rejection was a “wonderful compliment” in disguise. Justice’s refusal to touch the track showed Tame Impala’s potential. Parker was only just releasing his sophomore record and he’d already been given the ultimate stamp of approval by electro legends.

Lowe also adds his own Parker praise. “I did a Future Music Tour and Tame Impala played the same stage as me and Mark Ronson,” he recalls. “Tame Impala was on very early [and drew in a] packed crowd… Me and Mark were like ‘Wow, thank you, because these people are going to stick around! You’ve given us all a great day!’”

In terms of Tame Impala’s work on Hyperdrama, the Justice duo say Kevin Parker had a lot of input on the production. “We wanted him to be a vocalist, but at the same time, everything was done hand in hand,” De Rosnay says. “From the moment he had an idea, we’d reconstruct everything around that. It was really an exchange.”

Justice’s Hyperdrama is out tomorrow. Tame Impala features on tracks Neverender and One Night/All Night.