Jun 282022
 
chels

CHELS is a dynamic singer that you probably haven’t heard of – yet. Promoting her debut single “The Puppet,” she also performed a stellar live cover of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” on Dutch radio station NPO Radio 2. 

Singer Chelsea Hegener uses her instrument with great skill, rich, melancholy, and complex. As she makes her way towards the end of the chorus before the B section, her accompanying guitarist peppers in a bit of lower harmony. This is when my heart start to melt. As a whole, the strummed guitar has a lively and warm timbre which, in brief moments is contrasted by a bit of intricate picking. This accompaniment was the perfect blank page for the main vocalist to paint all over. Watch it below.

Check out our recent list of The Best Radiohead Covers Ever.

Jul 252019
 
hawthorne heights kacey musgraves cover

If we were to look into a crystal ball and get a preview of the tribute albums that will exist in the world a decade from now, it is a near-certain bet that one will be devoted to Kacey Musgraves. Her genre-mashing, Grammy-winning 2018 album Golden Hour is already regarded as a classic only a year after its release. It seems on track to follow in the footsteps of Dusty Springfield’s seminal Dusty In Memphis, remaining enduringly influential on a whole generation of new artists.

But here’s the weird thing: The band that has officially set the bar for stellar Musgraves covers of the future is not some hot thing in the bloom of youth, it’s the long-running, rock-with-a-pinch-of-emo band Hawthorne Heights. Continue reading »

Jan 262018
 
david byrne madonna

“Watch out, you may get what you’re after,” David Byrne sang in 1983’s Talking Heads classic “Burning Down the House.” Byrne is not shy to collaborate with artists he admires across a vast array of genres and levels of fame, including St. Vincent, Selena (RIP), Fatboy Slim, Caetano Veloso, and more. It seems Choir! Choir! Choir!, a Canadian choir that went viral for their rendition of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” in 2016 – and a large crowd of fans – got what they were after last Saturday in New York when the choir performed with David Byrne. Continue reading »

Jan 082018
 
gregg allman song for adam

When Gregg Allman went into the studio to record his final album Southern Blood it was clear to all those around him that he was saying goodbye. The record, released posthumously last September, contains a number of tracks that tell the story of a man looking back on his life. In 2017, we wrote about his version of the Grateful Dead’s “Black Muddy River” and how it provided a feeling of joyful release. By contrast, the album’s closing tune, a cover of Jackson Browne’s “Song for Adam,” relates a much bleaker story. Continue reading »

Jun 172014
 

Warning: watching Chance The Rapper cover the theme from PBS’ Arthur might bring nostalgic tears to your eyes. The 21-year-old rapper proved his ’90s kid status at Sasquatch Festival with a magical version of “Believe in Yourself.” The original, written and performed by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, immediately evokes everyone’s favorite aardvark and a world filled with his anthropomorphic pals. Continue reading »