10 Recent Indie-Rock Covers You'll Never Go Back From
When making it Indie made all the difference.
One of the pleasant surprises lockdown brought was the stark rise of covers that started to surface, proving to be something easy and fun for the artists to make while also being widely accessible for fans.
With all the new covers to feast our ears on, common themes have been popping up. Many tend to stick close to their wheelhouse, so much so that it ends up being a re-tread of the original with the covering artists adding little more than their vocals to popular tunes. We get it, artists want to be as faithful and authentic to the original sound as possible, and on the most part, they do make some nice subtle changes, enough to make it an enjoyable experience.
But they could be so much more. The most memorable covers reimagine the original in a way that completely fits in with the sound the covering artists are known for doing already. Some even manage to interpret lyrics in a different light and just run with it. Either way, their transformations are so complete that you'd swear you were listening to an original track. So here's a look at the ones that did it best over the past few years.
10. Paramore - Passionfruit (Original: Drake)
We start off with a cover that is a vibe and a half. Having an already catchy musical arrangement to work off, Paramore take the chilled but addictive elements of the original and just run with it. Removing the clunky interludes in Drake's version was a great start as while they may work in the context of his whole album, they feel more stop-start when listening stand-alone.
Jumping straight into it instead, the guitars give the tune a softer edge that shifts it from rhythmic to addictively melodic, where the whole sound could have blended in perfectly with their critically acclaimed album After Laughter. Hayley Williams's vocals also add to this, with her more subtle and controlled voice even allowing her to seamlessly blend in a couple of lines from another Drake hit "Hold On, We're Going Home".
This softer approach lets the lyrics breathe more, having a much larger impact. Both versions describe how a long-distance relationship prevents them from maintaining trust, making them want to put it to an end. However, their acceptance of the inevitable situation comes out a lot better here, leaving the listener to ruminate on what might have been.