JITJ Playlist 002: Lovely Covers
A 12 pack of 'lovely' cover songs that bring me joy . . . .
Presenting a selection of 12 tracks drawn from my imaginatively titled Lovely Covers Spotify playlist. The criteria for “lovely” remains murky at best, but each track is fairly laid back and mellow (either the originals themselves or the reincarnations, or both) and that’s a big part of it.
Introducing the Joy In The Journey playlist feature. I’m targeting this as a weekly series; we’ll see how it goes. Hope you enjoy this installment!
Eyes Without a Face
Marsheaux
I’d never heard of Marsheaux when this song made its way onto my radar, and still haven’t heard any of their music outside of this wonderful cover of Billy Idol’s Eyes without a Face from his 1984 album Rebell Yell, which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Cash Box called the original the “more subdued” and “more sensitive” side of Billy Idol. While I loved the harder songs like Rebel Yell and White Wedding, this remains my favorite track from the album.
Though it’s far more bass-heavy and synth driven, it remains fairly faithful to the original cover (until the 3:00 spoken word segment, which takes away nothing for me). Marsheaux is a Greek synthpop band that have been making music for two decades. This track appeared on 2012’s E-Bay Queen is Dead, a compilation of previously unreleased material.
Into The Black
Chromatics
This cover of Neil Young’s Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) from his 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps is so fantastic. Again, it’s a fairly faithful cover. But it’s heavier, it’s slower, it’s darker, and it’s somehow weightier. There’s an emotional heft there for me which isn’t present in the original, and it’s probably one of my favorite covers on this playlist.
This track appeared on Chromatics’ 2012 album Kill For Love.
Into Dust
In This Moment
This is the first of two Mazzy Star songs that appear on this playlist, both from her second studio album, 1993’s So Tonight That I Might See. This dream pop classic was my first introduction to Hope Sandoval’s dark, dreamy, enchanting vocals and I quickly sought out her 1990 debut She Hangs Brightly, which was possibly even better for me. Outside of a passing interest in 1996’s Among My Swan and her first album as Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions, I haven’t spent much time with her music in a long time. Compiling this playlist has reminded me how amazing her first two albums were and has inspired me to spend some more time exploring her full catalog.
Another faithful cover, this track appeared on 2020’s Mother, the seventh album by American metal band In This Moment. The track, which opens with a spoken word intro: “God is She and She is God. I am Her and you are me. Had to burn to be set free. We were all blind. But now we see” replaces the acoustic guitar of the original with piano and is heavier on the string accompaniment and droning background guitar. But it’s lead singer Maria Brink’s voice that takes this track to another level. There’s clearly power there, but for most of the song she is restrained. Over the course of the video, the song unfurls slowly, and the tension builds and then, at the five-minute mark, she opens it up, yet still only hinting at what she may be capable of. The vocal remains understated, but it’s rightsized for the moment and for the song, a beautful climax to a glorious rendition.
Wandering Star
Torres
As I’ve been documenting the first few songs on this playlist, a theme has clearly emerged: heaviness. Indeed, these first four tracks have a weight to them and this track is the heaviest of the bunch so far, and probably for the entire playlist.
Although I’ve never compiled a list of Desert Islands Discs, Portishead’s 1994 trip hop masterpiece Dummy, on which the original version of Wandering Star appears, would very possibly make my top eight of all time. This album was my entry into what felt like a whole new world of music. Trip hop, downtempo, chillout, whatever you choose to call it, this genre soundtracked much of my life for the better part of a decade.
This cover, released as single in 2020, is by MacKenzie Ruth Scott, who performs as Torres. I’ve long been a fan of Torres’ work - of her five albums released to date, three have made it on to my Top 50 Albums of the Year (2015’s Sprinter at #7, 2020’s Silver Tongue at #48, and 2021’s Thirstier at #31). I’m excited to hear her sixth album, What an Enormous Room, scheduled for release in January 2024.
Young Americans
Durand Jones & The Indications
My God, what a voice Durand Jones has been gifted with! And it’s on full display in this cover version of the David Bowie classic, an even soul-ier version of an already soulful classic.
Sidebar: I recently discovered from Front Row & Backstage’s Brad Kyle that Luther Vandross sang background vocals for David Bowie on the very album from which this cover is drawn, 1975’s Young Americans. Read all about that, and a host of other tunes, on the second installment of Tune Tag which Brad played with Andy Celati of the fabulous Vinyl Room Substack.
American Love Call, the second album by Durand Jones & the Indications, came in at #8 on my 2019 Album of the Year list and they made my top 20 in 2021 with Private Space. But I just haven’t been able to connect with the latest release, Wait Til I Get Over although it’s on my list to revisit later this month.
Just The Way You Are
José James
This silky-smooth rendition of the Billy Joel classic is an absolute joy. Although he’s been releasing albums since 2008, I’d never heard of José James until his 2020 album No Beginning No End 2 on which this cover version appears. That album, which came in at #16 on my Album of the Year list, contains collaborations with a host of fabulous musicians including Ledisi, Aloe Blacc and Laura Mvula and remains a favorite.
Thank you for reading Joy in the Journey, I appreciate you being here! If there’s someone in your life you think may enjoy this post, feel free to share it.
Summer Wine
Alex Kapranos, Clara Luciani
Franz Ferdinand’s frontman Alex Kapranos partners with French pop chanteuse Clara Luciani for a delicious update of this saccharine (I say this in a good way) Lee Hazlewood-penned classic. I love this song, it’s so much fun, both this version and the original duet performed by Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra. I first heard of Lee Hazlewood when his My Autumn’s Done Come appeared on Air’s installment of the legendary Late Night Tales compilation series.
The video itself is just so cheesy - it’s magical - and the addition of the French lyrics takes it to the next level for me.
Smalltown Boy
Orville Peck
The masked gay country star Orville Peck’s rendition of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy was a revelation to me. It’s a fairly straight up cover, with a bit of country twang added in along the way, both musically (wonderful slide guitar flourishes) and lyrically (“cry boy, cowboy cry”). Peck for the most part keeps his vocals in his standard lower register but does head up into his higher register and falsetto for the background wailing. It’s an easily recognizably incarnation of the original classic, but by the end of the track it’s also indisputably an Orville Peck song. He honors the original yet also makes it his own.
I’ve been a fan of this mysterious artist since his 2019 debut release Pony, which ranked in my top 50 albums that year. He kicked it up several notches with his follow-up, 2022’s Bronco which was my #5 album last year.
Jami Smith, of Songs That Saved Your Life, has a wonderful and illuminating article on the original version of this song, which you can read here:
Fade Into You
Inhaler
The second Mazzy Star cover on this week’s playlist. The Dublin, Ireland quartet released this cover as a B-side to their 2020 single Falling In. I’d never previously heard of Inhaler, or listened to their music, but this cover really captures the emotion and spirit of the original.
Between The Bars
Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield
This song, whether the Elliott Smith original or this marvelous cover, pretty much always brings a catch of my breath, or a tear to my eye. While I generally (but not always) have to enjoy the music to enjoy a song, I’m a lyrics guy at heart. To a recovering alcoholic and addict, the lyrics to this song are gut-wrenching.
Drink up, baby, stay up all night
With the things you could do, you won't but you might
The potential you'll be, that you'll never see
The promises you'll only make
Drink up with me now and forget all about
The pressure of days, do what I say
And I'll make you okay and drive them away
The images stuck in your head
People you've been before
That you don't want around anymore
They push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still
The voice of addiction, that drives you forward, despite your best intentions, and in full knowledge of the consequences to come, to pick up that next drink or drug. The incessant pull to numb yourself from life and the ongoing imperative to smother the better angels of your nature or push away anyone that may be capable of helping you. It’s all captured in this song, in damning and demoralizing intensity.
This beautiful cover appears on 2015’s Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith. Critics were mixed on this effort, with Pitchfork rating it 5.4 (“for all their faithfulness, they can’t quite convey the conflicted emotions or the bleak undercurrents of Smith’s lyrics”). I disagree.
I lean more towards the Under The Radar review which rates it 7/10 and captures my feelings perfectly: “Most of these are not really reinterpretations so much as simple fireside performances of his incomparable material, and as such they put the spotlight right back on the source, even lending added emphasis to the simple brilliance of his lyrics and melody—along with a little bit of warm country twang.”
There are times when I want to see artists challenge and reinvent the source material. Cat Power aka Chan Marshall has an incredible catalog of cover songs, and is an absolute genius in this art of reinvention (I present exhibit A: her cover of Frank Ocean’s Bad Religion). In case of Smith’s songs, given the material, I’m comfortable with the approach Avett and Mayfield take; for the most part, I don’t really want to see reimagination of his work. Quite frankly, 9 times out of 10, when I want to commune with his music I’ll head straight to the source.
The original sits firmly on my Spotify playlist My All-Time Favorite Songs, which currently comprises a meagre 34 songs. Although it’s a fool’s errand to try and rank the tracks on my list, Between the Bars would certainly be near the top.
Never Tear Us Apart
The National
I was a little late to the party with The National - my introduction came in the form of 2010’s High Violet (standout track for me is Afraid of Everyone, another that numbers among my favorite songs of all time). I don’t think any cover of this song can ever capture the force of nature that was Michael Hutchence, but despite the changes (string synths replaced by programmed drums, no sax solo), the spirit of the original remains in this relatively faithful rendition.
This appeared on Songs For Australia, a 2020 album of covers of Australian songs compiled by Julia Stone to support bushfire relief efforts.
Superstar
Roy Montgomery, Katie Von Schleicher
Dreamy. Ethereal. Hypnotic. All of these could apply to this lovely cover of the Carpenter’s classic Superstar, from their self-titled 1971 release. In all honesty, I much prefer the original - the depth and richness of Karen Carpenter’s voice is just sublime, but for some reason this “spaced out” interpretation just grabs me.
I know next to nothing about guitarist Roy Montgomery who has been making music, as the member of a band or a solo artist, for over 40 years. I’d like to explore his work, so if you have any suggestions on where to start, please add them in the comments.
I’m aware of Brooklyn’s Katie Von Schleicher as her 2020 release Consummation made my top 50 list that year, but that’s all the exposure I’ve had. A month ago she released her fifth full-length, A Little Touch of Schleicher in the Night and I’m looking forward to giving it some airtime.
Tomorrow
Emily Barker, Lukas Drinkwater
We end this installment with a song drawn from another compilation of covers of Australian songs, this time from Room 822, released last year by Emily Barker and Lukas Drinkwater. This is a stunning reinterpretation, taking Silverchair’s 1993 grunge classic and turning it into a sparse folk duet with some of the loveliest harmonizing I’ve heard in years. The story of how this album came together is a fascinating one and well worth a read.
I’d be remiss if I wrapped this entry up without the discussing the band that spawned the album on which the original track appears, 1995’s Frogstomp (see what I did there? “spawned”? Frogstomp? Anyway, I digress). The album was released in March 1995 when all of the band members were only 15 years old! These magical, fully formed, absolutely kickass, hard rocking songs were written and performed by three kids. Certified multiplatinum in Australia, Canada, and the UK, this album has gone on to record well over three million certified sales globally.
I listened to the album in its entirety last night while preparing for this entry. I was gob smacked at how incredible it still sounds, and I was awed by what these young people were able to produce at such an early age. I didn’t really connect with much of their subsequent work, but this release sounds as fresh and exciting as it did three decades ago.
As always, thanks for being here and sharing this musical journey with me!
Please drop a comment below to let me know what grabbed you. What’s your favorite on the playlist? Do you have a favorite cover song? What makes a good cover song for you?
Love these, Mark. I have a HUGE covers playlist that I need to go through and sort by mood or genre or something. Near the top of my favorite cover albums was an EP by Angel Olsen titled Aisles, which she released in 2021. Here's her take on "Eyes Without a Face." I think I like the Marsheaux version better -- it's more adventurous -- I do like Angel's take as well.
https://youtu.be/4WtWd6neFEE?si=Sq_KIHRJ-keiWGVv
Also, one of my early Earworm posts was Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face." I should repost that one since I had about 150 fewer followers. Here's the link to it if you want to see what you missed!
https://earworm.substack.com/p/billy-idol-eyes-without-a-face
I do love a good cover. One that's been on my mind (after the discussion of Prince in the most recent Tune Tag) is the Nouvelle Vague cover of "When Doves Cry" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSiMUiTyqg8