Song of the Day: Catherine A.D., “The Wolves (Act I and II)”

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

Bon Iver seems impossible to cover. His recordings rely so heavily on those multi-tracked harmonies that you’d expect the songs to crumble without them. They don’t. Peter Gabriel proved that to the masses a few months ago with his version of “Flume” (Bon Iver responded with “Come Talk to Me”). Covers of the nine songs on his acclaimed debut For Emma, Forever Ago have bubbled up continuously since its 2007 release. I could practically do a Full Albums feature on it already. If I did, today’s cover would most certainly be on it.

Last week I was extolling the virtues of Bandcamp in helping me discover Jump Back Jake. Well chalk up another Bandcamp victory, because without the site I never would have heard Catherine A.D. Her version of Bon Iver’s “The Wolves (Act I and II)” is stunning, a delicate weep-inducer. She keeps some of those multi-tracked vocals, then strips it back to just piano. This band-and-forth tension keeps you riveted for the entirety. It’s off her In the Bleak Midwinter EP, which includes equally fantastic covers of Friendly Fires, Fleetwood Mac, and the Magnetic Fields.

Download: Catherine A.D. – The Wolves (Act I and II) (Bon Iver cover)
[audio: SOTD0610/TheWolves.mp3]

Check out more Catherine A.D. at her website, MySpace, or, of course, Bandcamp. And if you can’t get enough of this song, listen to Ellie Gouldling’s version in our wolf songs feature.