B-Side Guys

Legacy curation requires complex emotional navigation when Marla Mase transforms her daughter’s 2012 original into Pride Month celebration through Touchy Feely’s dancefloor reconstruction. Lael Summer’s posthumous remix arrives eight years after her death, demanding listeners confront how we remember artists whose mental health struggles loomed over their creative vitality. This isn’t typical memorial project—it’s deliberate reclamation of joy from tragedy’s narrative dominance.

James Dellatacoma’s production expertise, honed through work with Herbie Hancock and Nine Inch Nails, transforms Tomás Doncker’s original horn-driven funk into club-ready house anthem without sacrificing Lael’s commanding vocal presence. The remix strategy proves inspired: rather than updating arrangements superficially, Dellatacoma creates entirely new rhythmic foundation that supports rather than competes with Summer’s original performance. Her voice cuts through the dance production with authority that belies the vulnerability documented in her other material.

The Lael Project’s advocacy mission explains this release’s particular significance within Pride Month context. By highlighting Summer’s “Disco Diva attitude” alongside her mental health struggles, Mase refuses the false choice between celebrating artistic achievement and acknowledging personal pain. “I need a man to take me to the finish line” becomes anthem for agency rather than dependency when contextualized within Summer’s broader creative output.

Summer’s background working as OCD exposure therapist adds crucial dimension to understanding her artistic approach. Her professional experience treating mental illness informed her music’s particular balance between vulnerability and strength, creating songs that functioned as therapeutic tools rather than simply emotional expression. This remix preserves that duality through production choices that amplify confidence without erasing complexity.

The track’s 2025 release timing feels intentional beyond Pride Month scheduling. Contemporary discussions about mental health, artist legacy, and posthumous releases provide framework for understanding how families navigate grief through creative preservation. Summer’s story—USC graduate, respected therapist, promising artist—resists simple tragedy narrative through projects like this.

What emerges is portrait of artist whose depression coexisted with professional success, creative fulfillment, and genuine desire to help others heal.