Canadian indie-pop vets Stars have been releasing records for 15 years now, and in that time have put out a handful of great covers: their version of The Smiths’ “Asleep” is a wonderful twee lullaby, and they put just the right combination of swagger and emotion into “Fairytale of New York.” 2016 will see them up their cover game dramatically though, with a new cover every month. And if the first two are anything to go on, it’s going to be a great year.
Last month they kicked things off with a cover of Bob Dylan‘s “It Ain’t Me Babe.” With Amy Millan’s tender vocals over lush synths and a thudding electronic beat, it is a dramatic reinvention. And this month they drew from a dramatically different source: Kanye West, taking on his 2008 autotune jam “Street Lights.” It sounds as much like Kanye West an their “Ain’t Me” sounds like Bob Dylan, as the band warps these disparate sources into two lovely slow-burn covers. We can’t wait to see what they have in store for March.
Listen to “It Ain’t Me, Babe” and “Streetlights” below.
Keep an eye out for the next Stars covers at their website or Soundcloud.
[…] below in his Pick Five entry. And he’s a man who knows his covers. In 2016, Stars launched a monthly covers series, tackling everyone from Bob Dylan to a pre-MAGA Kanye West. Not only were the covers great […]