Eurythmics haven’t released an album or toured since 1999, but for whatever reason this summer has seen a surge of covers. And not even just more versions of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” but other singles and deeper cuts. It’s probably just coincidence (unless Dave Stewart releasing his memoir earlier this year was a catalyst), but whatever the reason, we’re always happy to get new interpretations of their catchy-but-slightly-odd dance classics.
First up was Iron And Wine’s Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop. Earlier this year, they teamed up for a duets album Love Letter For Fire, and this summer they added an outtake: a cover of “Love Is a Stranger.” If you know even the tiniest thing about Beam or Hoop, it will not surprise you one iota to learn they take the pop song in a radically different direction. Their voices blend beautifully on the delicate acoustic cover.
On a poppier note, Russian singer Eva Babich does a terrific job with “Here Comes the Rain Again.” It keeps the electronics of the original, but slows it down into a more somber, beautiful ballad. It’s like Celine Dion mixed with Mazzy Star, creating a musical melodrama that the lyrics support.
And most recently, love + war covered “Missionary Man” as the lead single from their upcoming covers album. We’ve been fans since their Sam Smith/Tom Petty mashup cover last year, and they do a great job on this new one. It comes with a terrific, artistic video (another thing Eurythmics perfected) featuring dancer Lindsay Fine busting moves on a deserted street. Their next video appears to also feature her dancing to a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Policy of Truth,” which we’re looking forward to. If Depeche Mode were the next ’80s hitmakers to get a sudden cover resurgence, we wouldn’t complain…
Update 9/16: The trend continues! Masked Swedish metal band Ghost – who recorded our favorite cover of 2013 – just their own version released “Missionary Man” on their new mostly-covers EP Popestar! Listen here:
