The remix album usually exists for one of two reasons: Either the initial album was such a hit that the record label figures that the public will gobble up more of the same, or the album is a bit of a disappointment and the record label figures a few top-name remixers might help the album find a second life on the dancefloor. Here listeners can assume that
Re-Routed is the second of the two, since despite his mysteriously high-media profile, no one actually bought the original
Invisible Airline album. The clubby remixes are right at the fore, with
Rivera Rotation and
Thunderball both providing standard Latin rhythms. Funky Transport turns in a surprisingly minimal and funky mix of "Differently" that unfortunately breaks into some sort of shimmering ambient trance in the middle of what could have been a solid effort. Veteran tech-house producer Hakan Lidbo strips "Shame" down to a solitary pulsing bassline that does little more than mark time for vocalist
Lisa Shaw, who was featured on many of
Invisible Airline's tracks.
King Britt also takes a hands-off attitude toward
Shaw's singing on "Innocent," a much more prudent decision than the one made by Lovesky, who remixes the same cut. The most interesting remix comes courtesy of
Q-Burns himself, who transforms "This Time" into a gliding electro vehicle with Italo-aliens dueting with
Shaw.
None of these remixes add anything substantial to the original work. At least the original album, no matter how flawed, attempted to expand
Q-Burns' musical palette. ~ Joshua Glazer