NEWS : TUE, OCT 20, 2020 at 6:58 AM
Marika Hackman shares interpretations of Elliott Smith’s “Between The Bars” and Beyonce’s “All Night” in advance of her forthcoming Covers album
Full details for worldwide album launch live stream announced - Covers will be out November 13th.
Listen to “Between The Bars” and “All Night” here now.
Marika Hackman recently surprised fans with details of a new album, Covers, and shared her interpretation of the beloved Grimes track “Realiti”. Covers is a darkly beautiful, self-produced album which showcases a more vulnerable side, out November 13th via Sub Pop in the Americas and Transgressive for the rest of the world.
Today, Hackman unveils two more tracks from the album. First up is her gorgeous cover of Elliott Smith’s beloved “Between the Bars.” “I’ve been playing ‘Between the Bars’ live for a while now, on the last few tours and in live streams. It’s been nice to play around with the arrangement, and I hope people enjoy what I’ve done with this recorded version,” offered Hackman about the track. In classic Marika style the opposing track couldn’t be more different - “All Night” sees her tackling one of the standouts from Beyonce’s Grammy-nominated Lemonade. Again, Hackman flips the song on its head. Joined by a choir of stacked vocal harmonies, Marika’s voice transcends to conjure a deep emotional resonance.
During the extended stay-at-home orders of the last few months, Marika felt that creating a covers record was a way of exploring new sound ideas and expressing herself without having the pressure of a blank page. She recorded and produced Covers between home and her parents’ house, then got David Wrench to mix it. In contrast to her last two albums (2019’s Any Human Friend & 2017’s I’m Not Your Man), this collection of songs is more akin in tone and feel to her debut We Slept At Last, with a darker and more introspective sound. On Covers, we hear Marika’s emotive voice set against sparse arrangements of guitars and strings with the occasional synth or scattered drum groove.
Breathing new life into the songs she’s chosen, Marika reimagines work by some of the world’s most beloved artists, such as Radiohead, Air, Sharon Van Etten and more. It’s a suitably varied collection, but Marika’s intimate delivery and soft, nuanced and atmospheric touch to production, thread them all together effortlessly.
Marika explains how she came to choose the material: “When it comes to covers, I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while. It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it.”
Adventurous and versatile, Covers continues Marika’s lineage in turning each body of work into a new take and perspective on her creative vision. She twists and turns, always surprises, and is never afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve. It remains anyone’s guess to imagine where she will head next.
Covers is now available for preorder through Sub Pop (the Americas), Marika Hackman’s official website, and Transgressive Records (ROW). Preorders of the LP will be available as a limited edition Navy Blue/Purple colored vinyl.
Marika also has shared further details of her live stream taking place in an abandoned swimming pool that will take place on Covers release day. Tickets for the show will be available when fans pre-order the album. It occurs on November 13th at 8:30 pm GMT and 9 pm EST/6 pm PT.