Covers performed by Phoebe Bridgers have received many a recent notice here at Cover Me. The selections run the gamut, from Metallica and McCartney to Wheatus and A Star is Born. It’s a far less common occurrence, though, for us to have as many takes on Phoebe’s own songs performed by others — let alone a pair in such rapid succession, alongside Spacey Jane last week. Continue reading »
Indie-rock band Spacey Jane, who dominated the Australian music scene last year, have covered another musical juggernaut of 2020: Phoebe Bridgers. Their cover of her 2017 track “Scott Street” for Apple Music’s Home Sessions captures the meandering melancholy of the original even after stripping back its sweeping production.
The guitar-forward sound of the original version means an acoustic cover on its own won’t add anything surprising, but the vocals by Caleb Harper and bassist Peppa Lane bring a contemplative quality to the track. Overall, it’s a moving rendition leading to the stunning outro that “Scott Street” producer Tony Berg has described as sounding “as if you’re looking back on your life, and it was just a failure.”
Check out the cover on Apple Music below. The band also performed acoustic versions of their own “Booster Seat” and “Lots of Nothing” as part of the sessions.
There are just an absolute slew of Metallica (the album) covers appearing these days, as part of the build up to The Blacklist, the forthcoming “Black Album” tribute album. Ten of the tribute’s covers–count ’em, ten–are of the song “Nothing Else Matters.” Arguably the most commercial song Metallica had yet written, it was a marked departure for the band when Hetfield wrote it. (Apparently he didn’t initially write it to record with Metallica.) It’s since become Metallica’s best-selling song, and it’s perhaps most accessible to softer treatments of any song in their catalogue.
There’s long been a bit of a baroque feel to the softest parts Metallica’s music. As early as Ride the Lightning, the band introduced acoustic guitars that had a baroque feel. So it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise when Phoebe Bridgers‘ new cover of “Nothing Else Matters” opens with piano (backed by something like a plucked cello?) that could almost recall baroque music.
The song is basically the same tempo, but is considerably softer. It builds slowly and softly with additional strings entering and some double-tracked vocals on the refrain. At around three minutes, electronic percussion comes in to give the song a little more heft. But even with the limited percussion, the vibe is still soft and somber.
Perhaps it’s a bit obvious, as going softer than the original is the easy route. But it’s an extremely pretty version, and Bridgers shows a lot of restraint with the arrangement. Check it out below:
Orson Wilds, the Canadian duo Eric Reid and Brianna Bordihn, currently has two singles to their name. Their third release is a cover of Phoebe Bridgers’ “Kyoto,” a song that was nominated for the Best Rock Performance, and Best Rock Song in last weekend’s Grammys. Their debut album is set to come out later this year. Continue reading »
Hot on the heels of her much-acclaimed boygenius trio last year, buzzy singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has teamed up with Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst for yet another supergroup. Calling themselves Better Oblivion Community Center, the pair just kicked off a tour supporting their self-titled album. They debuted a couple killer (no pun intended) covers at their first shows, tackling the Replacement’s “Can’t Hardly Wait” and the Killers’ “Human.” Continue reading »
Our 50 Best Cover Songs of 2018 post goes up Monday and, as always, the cuts to get it down to size were brutal. I know it’s going to rough going when the painful cuts begin when the list is still pushing 100. The final and toughest cut of all – the 51st Best Cover of 2018, as it were – came last: singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers’ mesmerizing take on Tom Petty’s “It’ll All Work Out.” It still hurts that that one didn’t make it, so I’ll give it a little extra shine here (go listen to it here!).
Bridgers’ cover of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” might have been a year-end contender too had it come out a month ago. Just as she did with the Petty deep cut, she strips all the production away, leaving only a spare keyboard and layers of ethereal harmonies. “Friday I’m in Love” gets covered far less than comparable Cure hits, sometimes derided as a less artful pop-radio play (it didn’t even rank in Rolling Stone’s fan-voted Best Cure Songs list). Bridgers redeems the song on her stunning cover, recorded for a new Spotify Single, and will hopefully inspire more closet “Friday I’m in Love” fans to cover the song. Continue reading »