“What the world needs now, is not yet another cover of Hotline Bling, sweet lord.”
That’s Sondre Lerche, who posted that message along with…his cover of “Hotline Bling.” But, as it turns out, we did need this cover of Drake‘s biggest hit (and maybe it will help console Drake after being robbed of his first #1 by a certain someone suddenly returning to say “Hello”).
This is the sixth in Lerche’s series of year-end covers of popular songs from the preceding 12 months (here’s his take on Beyoncé’s “Countdown” and Sia’s “Chanedelier”). His Drake cover is far more produced and upbeat than previous installments, but still a blast. We can’t help wondering what he’d sound like doing a quiet acoustic version though.
Listen to “Hotline Bling” below – and if you keep on the charts in 2016, maybe you’ll be able to guess what song he’ll cover this time next year.
And here’s his full note about it:
What the world needs now, is not yet another cover of Hotline Bling, sweet lord. But there’s no other huge song of 2015 I had wanted to sing more than Drake’s irrational, wounded instant classic. So deal with it, and I’ll at least spare you any further analysis, except to say it’s a truly magnetic piece of music. My version was produced, recorded and mixed by Matias Tellez (Hotline Bling is one of his favorite songs of the year too) last night in Bergen, Norway in a mere 10 dark hours. At the end of the night we were quite fried, borderline hallucinating, and a nod to Milton Nascimento’s immortal “Clube Da Esquina No 2” snuck into the outro. I believe this is the sixth annual Christmas cover I share with my dear followers and fans, who continue to be spirited, loyal, engaging and full of wonder as our paths cross out there, on and off stage, in various spheres and in the songs themselves. Thank you for listening, caring and sharing my music where you are. It matters to me. Everything does. Here’s to yet another year that hopefully, despite terrifying, dark forces seeking to corrupt and confuse, will see us inspire each other to even greater heights, above, beyond.
Happy holidays & thanks for listening.
All the best,
-SL
