Still Wave unveiled a mesmerizing cover of Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight.” The cover and music video were released this month as part of their experimental EP Post Atomic Love. The Rome-based group creates a haunting reinterpretation of the atmospheric original. Still Wave describe their genre as “pop post-gaze,” a mixture that blends shoegaze, post-metal, doom, and gothic textures.  The band’s ability to mix emotionally intense sonic landscapes with gloom and melodic intimacy places them solidly in Europe’s underground post-rock scene.

For this cover, gothic-tinged guitars and ghostly vocals intensify the lyrics, turning Swift’s polished production into something rawer. It’s like the band took the gloss off an emotionally heavy song. The cover hints at a catastrophic sadness, missing the delicate, careful nature of Taylor Swift. The tone is perfect for the EP’s post-apocalyptic undertones. With this haunting take on “Fortnight,” Still Wave has recast a modern pop hit into a cinematic, post-atomic elegy. Even contemporary chart-toppers can find new audiences through radical reinvention.

Post Atomic Love dives into the theme of modern love in an era of emotional disconnection. The Swift cover sits alongside covers of Tears for Fears’ “Watch Me Bleed” and Dissection’s “Where Dead Angels Lie.” On Bandcamp, Still Wave said of the EP, “It’s all about love here. Sing these songs with us: we are all lonely and isolated, trying to share some missing feelings since the atomic bomb.”