Jul 032023
 
best cover songs of june 2023
Aaron Taos ft. Jordana — Under Control (The Strokes cover)

Aaron Taos says: “When Jordana and I met for the first time, we realized very quickly that we both shared an obsession with the Strokes. What’s more surprising is that we also share the same favorite Strokes song, “Under Control,” an album cut off of their second LP Room On Fire. Naturally, we decided that we had to cover this amazing tune. Reimagined as a minimalist duet, this slow burn produced by Blake Richardson (formerly artist Sage Baptiste) also comes with a lo-fi vid shot in Brooklyn, NY. We just want to make Julian Casablancas proud.” Continue reading »

Feb 282022
 
best cover songs
Blacktop Mojo – My Girl (The Temptations cover)

You may listen to the gentle plucking when this begins and thing, boy that’s not what I expected from that band photo. Is this an acoustic flying V? Blacktop Mojo’s “My Girl” stays pretty and meditative for over half the run time, turning the oldies classic into a pretty folk-rock ballad. Eventually, though, true to that long-hair-and-leather image, the heads start banging and axes start shredding. Continue reading »

Feb 232022
 
julia jacklin bill fay

As a part of a retrospective on English folk singer-songwriter Bill Fay, Julia Jacklin has just released a cover of his yearning ballad “Just To Be A Part.” The original version has Bill Fay at the piano, with a persistent high hat and a can-filling contribution by the rest of the band. There is urgency in his vocal, with the electric guitar wailing like yells and groans of desperation.

Jacklin’s cover builds more slowly, starting with her trademark indie guitar sound, before building the rest of the band and double tracked vocals in for a swelling, powerful finish. The song structure of starting solo and then adding more band elements as the song progresses is still here, but the clean crisp indie tones take this song to another level. Check out the track below.

Aug 172021
 
Christian Lee Hutson

Shania Twain wrote “You’re Still the One,” the biggest hit yet of her career, about her then-husband/producer Robert “Mutt” Lange. (They divorced many years later, so it just goes to show you that even a massive pop hit can’t guarantee success in marriage.) Lange being Lange, the original song has tons of instruments and backing vocals (including Lange’s) on it. It’s a typical ’90s country pop ballad with a little too much shine and sparkle for the simplicity of the message.

We last met former Driftwood Singers singer-songwriter Christian Lee Hutson on the Saving for a Custom Van tribute Adam Schlesinger tribute. Hutson is an indie folk singer with three LPs and three EPs under his belt. For his cover of “You’re Still the One” he’s joined by Australian singer Julia Jacklin, a regular here at Cover Me.

From the beginning, Hutson plays it more restrained; there is only a ringing guitar or two, Hutson’s double-tracked vocal, and drums. Jacklin joins him on backing vocals for the chorus, as does what sounds like a marimba. (An interesting choice to be sure.) For the second verse, Jacklin takes the lead, turning it into a proper duet.

It’s a nice, restrained take on one of Shania’s best songs. Check it out below:

Jun 302021
 
best cover songs of june
Adia Victoria – On and On (Erykah Badu cover)

Adia Victoria recorded this powerful Badu cover for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. She said of the time she discovered the song, “I was looking for something that was bigger and deeper and felt more warm than the idea of a Christian God. And I dove into my imagination. And the first time I heard ‘on and on’ it felt like Erykah Badu was waiting for me to be her there.” Continue reading »

Jun 082021
 
julia jacklin rvg army of me cover

The first single from Björk’s second adult, “Army of Me” might be the closest she ever got to industrial pop sound that was everywhere in the mid ’90s. The synthetic bass, the sample, it’s all low, with only Björk’s vocal (lower in her range) and the clanging percussion brightening things up. On their new cover, Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin and RVG take a less ominous and more wrong approach to the song. Continue reading »