MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden has shared a cover of Biff Rose’s “Never Mind” from a recording session in January 2015 with James Richardson, Josh da Costa, and engineering by Al Carlson. VanWyngarden’s cover turns Rose’s 1970 classic into something that sounds like an underground ’80s synth-pop treasure. The lyrics tell a sad story, but in a reassuring way; the cover is too dreamy to be melancholic. The replacement of piano with an orchestra of synths makes the song mellow, less bright, and more comforting. Both versions will surely cause foot-tapping, but where the original will incite dancing, the cover encourages swaying in the moonlight.
VanWyngarden crafts a complex arrangement of the song, with no shortage of interesting atmospheric sounds creating the illusion of slight tonal shifts. The song floats around and ends before you realize it’s over. The ending appears to cut off VanWyngarden mid-word, a fantastic artistic choice making the end more interesting than a fading piano. Overall, it could be confused as a completely new song, in the best way possible.
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