There's some songs that just seem uncoverable. How about Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (the title track, too conceptual)? Blowing In The Wind (sure, Peter, Paul and Mary, but can't imagine it being anything less than sickening by most artists). Or MJ's 'We Are The World' (hate it, still uncoverable). It's all about sincerity, surely one of the hardest things for anyone to muster when playing another's songs, and surely one of the most important things to muster when playing a song who's sincerity feels directly connected to the original artist, or a song which needs to be delivered perfectly and with an impossible amount of sincerity to avoid ridicule. Alas, this is a very indefinable quality. And the need for a perfect marriage of artist and song further complicates things.
Antony Hegarty is one of the few artists I'd give almost free rein to do what they want. Sure, there's songs he'd be terrible and overblown for, but it's that same melodrama that makes him able to touch certain untouchable material. He's gotta be one of the few people I can imagine not destroying 'Imagine', which he's set to cover on Thank You For Your Love, his new EP.
He has the best voice in the world and he makes my heart snap in two when he sings. The cover remains sight unseen, but here's the title track.
Listen: New Antony and the Johnsons: "Thank You for Your Love"
I really like it, it gets a hard soul vibe as it nears the end with all the great horn arrangements - kinda feels along the wavelength of Fistful of Love in some ways.
And since Antony's such a love it/hate it proposition. If you like that, this might also be your thing...
Dirty Projectors playing Bob Dylan's 'Dark Eyes via Stereogum.com'
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