Fanny Lumsden and her Prawnstars have recreated the plucky 2011 radio hit “Somebody That I Used To Know.” Their version first debuted via ABC’s Spicks and Specks last year. Now, they have a music video for their masterpiece of a cover.
This version features mandolin, double bass, drums, keys, acoustic and electric guitars, and a plethora of vocals avec harmony. The result is a synergistic and unexpected sonic flavor. As the song opens up, a mandolin takes the stage with its melancholic arpeggios. The guitars underneath support the crescendo, and then it all backs off to leave room for Lumsden’s vocal entrance.
This cover is decidedly more mournful than Gotye’s original. Out with the 1960s Bonfa samples and bouncy xylophone! As the recreated version continues down the dirt path (which leads us to the chorus), we hear mysterious piano lines, tense electric guitars, stompy percussion, strings…Then, said chorus showcases the lush vocal soundscape Lumsden created. As the cover comes to a close, the sound of the lead vocalist’s pure, ornate, and folkish timbre sticks with us. The video was filmed on top of a hill in regional Australia.
For more great Gotye covers of this song, check out this list!
This is definitely inspired by the ‘Walk of the Earth’ (single guitar) cover that came out just after the original.
Really like the understated tone of this. Sweet.