Dublin’s Carosel (now based in Paris) set a high bar for their acoustic covers earlier this year with their startlingly beautiful, yearning take on Britney Spears’ “Hold It Against Me.” The question, then, became whether they could bring the same kind of heartfelt, subtle beauty to a song that was already full of emotion, rather than simply switching things up on a pop hit.
With their latest cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love,” singer Michelle Phelan and guitarist/instrumentalist Pete McGrane prove that they can imbue as much of themselves into the easygoing love songs of indie golden boys as they can into the unabashed, thinly-veiled dance innuendo of pop princesses. Phelan’s voice is tranquil but still passionate, while McGrane’s acoustic guitar is all at once understated and still as quietly powerful as the singing. If this is just the start, we expect great things in the cover world from Carosel.
Check out more from Carosel at their website and MySpace.
