“Till the World Ends” by electronic trioSALEMisn’t just a remix of the Spears—it’s a surgical endeavor that drags the tempo so dramatically that the vocals devolve into a chillingly masculine drone. SALEM's version is a world apart from the Dr. Luke-produced and Ke$ha-pennedprototype. While it assumes a similar apocalyptic vision, club kids and underground raves are replaced by seedy strippers and war scenes. Instead of well-produced beats, the grainy audio quality verges on the brink of disintegration. Most importantly, there’s no happy ending. This sort of striking reinterpretation of a pop tune recallsthat one Justin Beiber remixthat was slowed down 800%. That mix revealed a surprising, blissful ethereality—SALEM goes a shade darker with their subtly satirical choice of imagery. Strippers gyrate in comical exaggeration while a cheap night vision effect turns their eyes to vacant beads, more animal than human. Abrupt cut to green-tinted war footage—spectacular bombs and helicopter explosions splinter into streams of light for the remaining minutes of the video. An inane pop ditty becomes a haunting and melancholy rumination on sex and war. Not just“running the original through Garage Band,”SALEM strips the song to its bones and allows the lyrics to express new meaning.