Source: https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2014/06/05/21/43/jukebox-362982_960_720.jpg
With the recent turnaround in vinyl sales, the album has started to regain some lost ground as an art-form. We have all been so spoilt for choice with the numerous streaming services and instant downloads, that the ritual of listening to say The Beatles’ White Album from start to finish in order has become as a rarity. A Beatles playlist on Spotify cherry-picking the more famous songs has unfortunately made track order debates that can split a band apart now irrelevant. The upturn in vinyl LP sales and listening habits means more and more music fans were making a point of playing an album in its entirety, rather than clicking shuffle or skipping to the hits.
To celebrate the rise of the classic album format, and in part inspired by Ryan Adams‘ cover of the fantastic 1989 by Taylor Swift, HTF asks some of our favourite artists which records they would take on. So many artists are always asked which tracks to cover on numerous radio shows. But what if they have been invited to cover an entire album? Would they make a faithful interpretation or entirely have a re-haul and create their masterpiece from the foundations of another. Would Metallica take on The Wurzels’ classic Vintage Cider? How about Blur covering Shed Seven’s Maximum High? Both didn’t reply to our emails so sadly we shall never find out. Luckily these acts did!
The Canadian indie-rockers Arkells have been making old school classic rock albums (but with a modern sensibility) for nearly a decade and their latest record Morning Report is their best yet. It’s only a matter of time before they become a household name in the UK.
Source: Album cover
We’d cover Leonard Cohen’s new record; You Want It Darker. The reason why Lenny has always been so coverable is that he’s just about the best lyricist out there, and clever lyric writing is about the hardest thing to pull off for most musicians. His aging raspy baritone has buried many of the beautiful melodies he’s writing, but if the tunes were sung an octave higher they’d make a lot more (obvious) sense to the average ear.
We’ve always liked the production on his records. Even the 80’s synth stuff has aged well. But if we were to cover it, I’d beef up the rhythm section, so there’s a little more drive. Every tune would be sung like Brandon Flowers. We’d bring in gospel choirs for most choruses. And we’d probably get Ariel Rechstaid (HAIM, Vampire Weekend, Sky Ferreira) to produce.
Lenny has always been universally loved, but his original records have never had a populist bent. But once we cover it, even teenagers will understand the greatness.
The band is on tour in the UK this month, playing Manchester’s Gullivers and Glasgow’s Broadcast, tickets available here.
In the meantime watch their fabulous new video for ‘My Heart’s Always Yours’ below.
