We Are Rewind introduces Edith, the newest edition of its reworked portable audio player

We’re big fans of We Are Rewind, the French company that can lay claim to helping kickstart the current cassette tape revival. Yes, it’s a niche pursuit, but barely a week goes by when another major release doesn’t debut in a specially packaged cassette edition as well as the usual streaming services.

To keep interest in its straightforward but effective WE-001 player, We Are Rewind has issued a number of special editions, each in a distinctive colourway. There’s been Amy, Kurt, Keith and Serge (no prizes for guessing the pop and rock cultural sources of inspiration); now they’ve introduced Edith.

Admittedly there’s nothing especially new here for fans of the brand, apart from the very distinctive pink and seafoam green painted aluminium bodywork. For those unaware of the WAR’s innovative reboot of the humble Walkman clone, the key additions are Bluetooth 5.1 – so you can use your regular earbuds or noise-cancelling headphones – and an onboard lithium-ion battery that’s charged over USB-C (no more putting a pair of dead AAs on the radiator for 15 minutes in order to eke out a little more playtime).

Thanks to the integral battery, Edith should endure for 10-12 hours of playback which feels like an improvement over the original portable hi-fi units. Even more in keeping with the cassette ethos is the unit’s ability to record. Hit the bright yellow record button with a Mic or stereo audio source plugged into the 3.5mm socket and revisit the world of the mixtape. Is this an unnecessarily simplistic return to retro clouded by naked nostalgia? Or is there more to the more act of making and listening to music in the analogue realm?

The manufacturer has leant hard into vintage styling with this new edition, the most candy coloured, pastel-hued player of the lot. Also available at the EQ-001 wireless headphones, a pair of Bluetooth cans that take their cue from the skinny headband and coloured foam earpads of original on-the-move audio tech from the 1980s and 1990s. A brand new WE-60 blank tape is another option, although audiophiles are still successfully finding treasure troves of mint, shrink-wrapped original stock from the era in thrift shops and charity stores. Finally, there’s a belt clip for the player, the ultimate in old-school technology flexing.

Whether it’s a special edition of a multi-platinum album or a quirky limited-edition run of archival art rock, tapes still have a place. Thanks to We Are Rewind, this flawed but lovable format will stick around for a while longer.

Edith WE-001 by We Are Rewind, available at WeAreRewind.com, also Rough Trade, Selfridges, FNAC, and Turntable Lab, £129, @We_Are_Rewind