Juno Reactor revisit ‘Mona Lisa Overdrive’ with Reaky Reakson remix
Juno Reactor - Ben Watkins (Photo by Leandro Quartiermeister)
British electronic act Juno Reactor have released the digital single “Mona Lisa Overdrive (Reaky Reakson Remix)” via Metropolis Records.
The track returns to material Ben Watkins wrote for “The Matrix Reloaded”. “Mona Lisa Overdrive” was used in the film’s freeway chase sequence, appeared on “The Matrix Reloaded” soundtrack in 2003, and later appeared in a different form on Juno Reactor’s album “Labyrinth” in 2004.
Watkins says: “The track has always held a special place for me, as it was the very first piece I was asked to write for “The Matrix Reloaded”. Reaky has given it a fresh intensity and perspective that feels both respectful and boldly new. To hear it now, years later, transformed through someone else’s passion and imagination, is a rare and rewarding thing. I hope you enjoy this new version as much as I have enjoyed thundering it out to dance crowds.”
The single arrives after Juno Reactor presented “Inside The Matrix” at the Tenerife Noir festival in March 2026 built around music written for “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions”.
About Juno Reactor
Juno Reactor is the long-running project of Ben Watkins, but his recording history started well before that name appeared. In 1979 he fronted the London new wave band The Hitmen, singing and playing guitar. That band also featured Alan Wilder who would later on join Depeche Mode. The group released the albums “Aim for the Feet” in 1980 and “Torn Together” in 1981, while the single “Bates Motel” became their best-known release. After The Hitmen, Watkins moved briefly into Brilliant, the band formed by Martin “Youth” Glover after leaving Killing Joke.
That period led directly into Watkins’ first fully electronic work. He met Youth in 1982, joined Brilliant for a short spell, toured the UK and Spain, and then recorded with him as The Youth & Ben Watkins on “The Empty Quarter”. That 1984 release was issued as the soundtrack to Jonathan Moore’s stage play “Street Captives”. A second album, “Delirium”, followed under the name The Empty Quarter and musically went further into a rhythm-led electronic direction.
Watkins then formed The Flowerpot Men with Adam Peters. That project produced the singles and EPs “Jo’s So Mean”, “Walk On Gilded Splinters”, “Alligator Bait”, and “Watching the Pharoahs”. The duo toured with Dead Or Alive and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Not surprisingly Steven Severin produced their debut single. The Flowerpot Men also recorded “Beat City”, which was used in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. When Watkins and Peters signed to Polydor, they continued as Sunsonic and released the album “Melting Down On Motor Angel” in 1990.
Juno Reactor began in 1990 as Watkins’ art-driven project, with the first single “Laughing Gas” arriving in 1993 followed by the albums “Transmissions” (1993), “Luciana” (1994), “Beyond the Infinite” (1995), “Bible of Dreams” (1997), “Shango” (2000), “Labyrinth” (2004), “Gods & Monsters” (2008), “The Golden Sun of the Great East” (2013), and “The Mutant Theatre” (2018). Across that period, Juno Reactor released material through NovaMute, Inter-Modo, Blue Room Released, and later Metropolis Records.
Watkins’ work with Juno Reactor later entered film on a larger scale through “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions”, which is why “Mona Lisa Overdrive” remains one of the key titles in his catalogue.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.
Since youâre here âŠ
⊠we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations, we havenât put up a paywall â we want to keep our journalism as open as we can - and we refuse to add annoying advertising. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Lineâs independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine â and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
