popwreckoning

In a nearly twenty year career, Let England Shake is the strangest album PJ Harvey has ever made. Really, the one competition it has is Is This Desire, and that album doesn’t come close. It comes as relief after two albums that I didn’t much care for that Harvey has made her best album to date.

Things start weird, but it takes until track two for the awe to set in. “Goddamn, Europeans,” Harvey sings at the beginning of “The Last Living Rose,” against a backdrop that sounds similar to a number of her older songs. Then, about a minute later, a strange honking instrument sets in. Pure beauty. This is Harvey dumping her sound on its head like only she can.

“The Glorious Land” begins with a bugle, and it’s all Scary Monsters era Bowie, and The Dreaming era Kate Bush. Harvey sings in a chant-like manner. It’s a song about England, most of these are. I get the feeling there’s a story beyond that theme running through the album, but I’m still unraveling it.

Most of these songs leave me grasping for words I can’t find, but I’m mostly dumbfounded. “On Battleship Hill” is sung in a falsetto against an acoustic guitar, drums and piano buried under odd production values. The lead and backing vocals don’t quite match up, and the singing is just behind the beat. It’s very ghostly.

“In The Dark Places“ knocks me on my ass every time. It’s one of the most normal songs here, but there’s something that causes my jaw to drop. A drum beat plays, and as the guitar kicks in she sings, “we got up early/washed our faces.” The lyrics tell a story barely glimpsed. It’s like seeing something unsettling through a dirty window.  That’s actually a pretty good metaphor for the album.

The next song, “Bitter Branches” is a stomper. It seems like a continuation of the last song lyrically. It’s all very exciting: “the soldiers standing/and the boots twisting underneath.” This is scary stuff. “Wave goodbye,” Harvey sings, and I feel myself there.

“Written On The Forehead” has a tribal thing going on. The beat and the voices going on behind Harvey are entrancing. “War here/in our beloved city,” Harvey sings; I can taste war on my tongue.

The album ends with “The Last Colour Of The Earth.” Just under forty minutes, and my head has been blown wide open. I’m saying it now, in February: this is the album of the year. Nothing is going to top this anytime soon. It’s an album for the ages, one I will be dissecting far into the future.

Track Listing:

1. Let England Shake
2. The Last Living Rose
3. The Glorious Land
4. The Words That Maketh Murder
5. All And Everyone
6. On Battleship Hill
7. England
8. In The Dark Places
9. Bitter Branches
10. Hanging In The Wire
11. Written On The Forehead
12. The Colour of The Earth

Let England Shake is out now.

Alex Frankel, one half of New York City electronic act Holy Ghost!, was kind enough to lend his typing fingers and answer some questions for me while he and his partner in crime Nick Millhiser are busy touring North America as support for LCD Soundsystem. The duo recently released their first “album” of material, the Static on the Wire EP, and they’re set for a summer full of shows and festival appearances. I ask him about how they got into recording music, his philosophy behind “good” dance music, and their recent cover of Friendly Fires‘ “On Board,” amongst other things. Have a read.

Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: I’ve read that you two met in grade school.  Did you bond immediately over music, certain bands, in band class, etc.?  How did you become friends?
Alex Frankel, Holy Ghost!: Nick was more skateboardy and I was more, sweat pantsy? We did play in a band in 5th grade (ages 9/10, respectively) that practiced in “The Cage” [a storage space in their elementary school] and was instructed by our social science teacher, Mrs. Preston, who was a very cosmic lady seemingly stuck in the late 1970s. But yeah, we always were doing some music here and there together.

MC: I’ve also read that you were members of a short-lived teen hip hop act in the ’90s called Automato. What instruments did you play, did you sing…? What happened with it?
AF: Nick played drums, I played keys. It started when we were 15 but we did it until 2005 actually. It’s how we met James [Murphy] and Tim [Goldsworthy, founders of independent label DFA Records], who produced the record. It faded out, too many cooks in the kitchen, too long spent on the same bunch of songs…we’re all still friends.

MC: How did you get involved with spinning and the making of dance music? Do you each have a personal philosophy towards dance music and what makes it great for you? Is this philosophy different when you yourselves are enjoying the beats in a club vs. when you’re DJaying or performing live?
AF: I like music that I have a pleasurable physical response to. I usually go “oooooooohhh” if I like something. And that means some wiring in my brain has been stimulated by the sounds or chords or whatever. But I guess what makes it GREAT is when the physical thing is there, but additionally there is also something emotional that I relate to on top of the music…like lyrics. Like LCD Soundsystem. Or Chic. Or David Bowie. Or Talking Heads.

MC: There are so many great clubs in New York. What are your favorites to spin at? What about when you’ve got a day off and you just want to hear good music and/or dance?
AF: This is such an interesting question because everyone asks it and here’s the deal: New York clubs rotate their musical style on a night to night basis these days. Meaning, one night the same club has techno, the next night is ska-fusion night. So, there are no clubs that are ALWAYS good. Like Paradise Garage once was. So I don’t know anyone who just “goes out to dance” and “hopes it’ll be good.” We go to places we know our friends or artists we like listening to will be at. But that venue changes every night. Places of interest are le poisson rouge, Santos Party House, Glasslands.

MC: As for dance scenes, do you each have a favorite?  London?  Ibiza?  Berlin?
AF: I’m not sure how to answer that, I guess every place is different? I really love the classic sounds of New York City and Chicago and Detroit. The grit. But I also love the clean, sharp music from Germany, starting from Kraftwerk all the way up to today. We’re pretty open-minded.

MC: Your 2008 single “Hold On” has really taken on a life of its own.  During an informal trawling of the Web, I found evidence that fans of dance music think it’s one of those tracks that will live on in dance music history forever (for one, check this link out).  Did you have any idea that “Hold On” was going to blow up as big as it did?
AF: Absolutely no idea it would go beyond our circle of friends!!

MC: When you started writing and recording music as Holy Ghost!, did you already have an idea of where you wanted to go musically? Did you / do you feel influenced by any artists past or present, dance or not?
AF: We wanted to make something that didn’t embarrass our friends, and we wanted to make something that sounded like the music we liked. We wanted to make music that people could dance to but that also was in line with our love of pop music structures.

MC: Let’s switch gears and talk about your releases for this year. In March, you put out a split single with one of PopWreckoning’s favorites, Friendly Fires. The BBC and British music media did a pretty good job of covering their side of what happened on this came about.  Is it true that the idea came up over a drunken haze at Calvi on the Rocks in Ibiza last summer?  How do you guys know each other?  Tell us more.
AF: Haha! Yeah, me and Ed [Macfarlane] met at Calvi last year during our DJ set, and I think about 30 minutes later we had agreed on a cover swap. Just clicked right off the bat. Good bloke.

MC: I really liked what you did with “On Board”, the DFA Celestial Choir was a nice touch, as was the bounce of “don’t stop, don’t stop” in the middle.  How did you choose that track, and how did you approach doing this cover?
AF: Thanks!!! It took forever. There were a bunch of huge personal and technical setbacks during the recording, and it took about 6 weeks. In the end we were really happy with it, felt like we made it our own but kept their original ideas relatively intact. Really fun project.

MC: It must have felt really different doing a full-fledged cover than a remix, being so famous for doing remixes for such high-profile friends like Moby and James Murphy / LCD Soundsystem.
AF: Eh, not really. Our “remixes” are often times covers. See the Moby remix (“I Love to Move in Here”) for evidence, where not one sound from the original was used, including vocals.

MC: Your first album-type release, the Static on the Wire EP, was released last month (May 18) on DFA Records. Only four songs but I think it’s a great taster to get people into what Holy Ghost! the recording act is all about.  How long did it take to record them? Was it quick from start to finish or have these ideas been percolating since the days of “Hold On”?
AF: I don’t know, it’s hard to distinguish things in retrospect. But we’ve been working on a batch of about 13 to 14 songs for 2 or 3 years. These are four. The rest are on the album.

MC: Last month you played your first live, non-DJ gig at Under 100 on May 15. I didn’t have the privilege of being there but some friends were there and really enjoyed the show. What was going through your mind before you went on?
AF: STAGE FRIGHT!!!! (Alex provided us with the below YouTube link)

MC: What’s it been like touring with LCD Soundsystem on your first “tour” of the continent?
AF: AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING. BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. BEST BAND IN THE WORLD. WE WAKE UP SO HAPPY EVERY DAY.

MC: You have some high profile appearances in Europe coming up this summer – Calvi on the Rocks to do a live set, London appearances at [the now endangered] Fabric club and the Groove Armada-founded festival Lovebox, and a festival slot at Germany’s Melt. Are there any particular shows that you are most looking forward to? I know I’m looking forward to your appearance in DC at the U Street Music Hall in less than 3 weeks.
AF: Actually, aside from Calvi, I’m most psyched for U Street. I’ve heard unbelievable things about the club! Oh, and Summerstage in Central Park because my mom and dad can walk from their houses.

MC: When will your first full-length album hit store shelves? (Or maybe “available for electronic download” is a more appropriate phrase.) Anything you can tell us about it now?
AF: It’s not dissimilar from what you’ve heard already. Some shorter, “poppier” songs, but not really. It’s funky. I hope. January [2011 release]?

MC: Some last questions. Your name Holy Ghost! with the exclamation point – who came up with it? Were you ever concerned about the obvious religious connotation?
AF: It’s from a Bar-Kays‘s song [a soul, r&b, and funk band founded in the mid-60s that had a single called "Holy Ghost Pt. I / Holy Ghost Pt. II" in 1975], we needed a name. We think it looks cool too.

Holy Ghost!‘s Static on the Wire EP is available from DFA Records now.

Tour Dates
Jun 04 – Hollywood Palladium / Los Angeles*
Jun 05 – Standard Hotel – Los Angeles
Jun 08 – Stubb’s / Austin*
Jun 09 – Palladium / Dallas*
Jun 12 – 88 Palace / New York City (DJ set)
Jun 18 – Sonar / Baltimore
Jun 19 – U Street Music Hall / Washington, DC
Jun 25 – Making Time / Philadelphia
Jun 25 – Vinyl / Denver (DJ set)
Jul 26 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC#
Jul 27 – Trocadero / Philadelphia#
Jul 29 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City#
Jul 30 – MEG Festival / Montreal#
Aug 02 – Capital Music Hall / Ottawa#
Aug 03 – Phoenix / Toronto#
Aug 04 – Central Park SummerStage / New York City^
Aug 05 – Majestic Theater / Detroit#
Aug 06 – Lollapalooza / Chicago
Aug 07 – First Avenue / Minneapolis#
Aug 10 – Flames Central / Calgary#
Aug 11 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Aug 12 – Showbox Market / Seattle#
Aug 13 – Roseland Ballroom / Portland#
Aug 16 – House of Blues / San Diego#
Aug 19 – Twilight Concert Series / Salt Lake City
Aug 20 – Ogden Theater / Denver#
Aug 24 – Stubb’s / Austin#
Aug 25 – Palladium / Dallas#
Aug 26 – Cannery Ballroom / Nashville#
Aug 27 – Masquerade / Atlanta#
* supporting LCD Soundsystem
^ with Hot Chip
# with Chromeo

Holy Ghost!: website | myspace | Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! – 12” Split Single

Johnny Brenda’s in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia has gained a legendary reputation for hosting great live music and on October 22nd, 2009 the second floor of the venue delivered all that and more. Drug Rug, a lo-fi indie folk band from Cambridge, Massachusetts opened the show. Upon entering the stage, they were greeted with a respectful applause but it seemed obvious most people were not familiar with this band. During their set, the musicians showcased their talents by trading off instruments and proceeding to play some spectacular indie rock tunes. By the end of their set, they had won over the audience and proved to be worthy openers for the incredible performance that was to follow.

Portugal. The Man headlined the show in front of a sold out crowd of eager twentysomethings. While most shows these days seem to consist of more waiting than watching, Portugal. The Man were up on stage and playing without much delay, keeping the audience fresh and lively and ready for another intensely satisfying set. Front man, John Baldwin Gourley, entertained the sea of onlookers with his enthusiasm and relentless energy for almost an hour. They played a variety of songs in their set since their music has shifted over the years from progressive pop/rock to the epitome of an indie rock band. While they seemed to be widely categorized in this genre, they are far from your average band. These guys played with a laid back attitude but an intense vibe. Most of the songs played were in support of the latest record, The Satanic Satanist. However, the primary hits from previous albums were also covered like the crowd favorite “Church Mouth.” At one point Portugal. The Man covered David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” followed by a well-greeted MGMT song.

The flashing lights and smoke on stage were a perfect blend to the band’s somewhat abstract and experimental sound. A constantly changing light show highlighted the bands enjoyable movements on stage while racking up points for the hip venue. Johnny Brenda’s was a perfect match for this lively band and equally fun crowd. In addition to the music, Gourley deserves some serious recognition for the mustache and long mane he was sporting. I’m betting this native Alaskan definitely had that style going long before it was hip.

After the set had finished, encore chants began and as sure as the day follows the night Portugal. The Man was back on stage for two more songs. It was an awesome night with some awesome tunes, and those of you that missed out on the sold out show, well, you better buy your tickets in advance next time this quartet comes around.

Set List:
And I
People Say
AKA M80 The Wolf
The Sun
Work All Day
Church Mouth
Do You
Everyone is Golden
Moonage Daydream- MGMT
Mornings
New Orleans
The Woods
My Mind

Portugal. The Man: website | myspace | Censored Colors review | @ bonnaroo 2009

Words: Steve Bistline and Victoria May
Photos: Victoria May

Welcome back, readers!  The summer is winding down and I’m still listening to danceable hip hop and R&B jams that make me want to shake my tailfeather on the dance floor.  Well, kitchen floor really.  Last week I unleashed a Sampling Edition, Part 1 to whet your musical appetites and had so much fun that I decided I’d double down on your asses with a two-parter.  Not for the A.D.D. musical aficionado, these tracks featuring a plethora of samples in unique and unlikely capacities.  Sometimes it’s fun just trying to see if you can figure out what part of the song belongs to which artist.  Either way, it’s a luscious mix of sounds and beats that make some of your favorite songs a tad more danceable.  And that’s always good.
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.Destiny’s Child - “Bootylicious”
Sample: Stevie Nicks – “Edge of Seventeen“
Who doesn’t love that chugging guitar riff that sets the tone of the Stevie Nicks classic “Edge of Seventeen?”  Apparently, Destiny’s Child wanted to pay homage to one of the foremothers of rock n’ roll by pilfering the sound for the intro of “Bootylicious,” a cheeky video that actually features a cameo of Miss Nicks herself.  As is the case with all great art, ironically Nicks and her writing team were subconsciously channelling their inner-Sting as it’s been said that the guitar and drum parts sound eerily similar to The Police‘s “Bring On The Night” and they only realized it afterwards.  Wow, I wasn’t ready for that jelly.

.Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Lil’ Kim – “Notorious B.I.G.”
Sample: Duran Duran - “Notorious“
One of my favorite hip hop artists of all time (may he rest!), Notorious B.I.G. enlisted the help of some of his Bad Boy family members to create one of the more memorable hip hop and rock mash-ups from the 1990′s that is the quintessential personal anthem of his own self-proclaimed notoriety.  Big up to Biggie for being able to make narcissistic songs so damn catchy by sampling a Duran Duran chorus and jangly guitar licks.  Or was it Puff Daddy‘s idea?  After all, he does claim to have invented the remix.

.Jay-Z feat. Memphis Bleek – “It’s Alright”
Sample: Talking Heads – “Once In A Lifetime“
Oh Jay-Z, can you ever do wrong?  It’s a  song like this that makes me wonder what the hell does Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne have to say about this?  It takes balls to sample Talking Heads for a hip hop song about maxin’, relaxin’ and chillaxin’.  Apparently Jay and Memphis Bleek borrow from a Kraftwerk song (“The Hall Of Mirrors”) here too so the musical sample is essentially an ambitious composite of the two.  Does Jay-Z really listen to new wave and synthpop?  If so, holler back, young’n.

.Puff Daddy feat. Mase – “Been Around The World”
Sample: David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”
This track may be too slow to do the Harlem shuffle, but it still does make me long for the golden days of 90′s hip hop.  With the help of then bromantic musical partner Mase, Puff Daddy had innovation on his mind when he laced this track with the inventive music of David Bowie‘s classic “Let’s Dance,” while stealing the chorus from Lisa Stansfield’s soft-rock hit “Been Around The World.”  Whatever happened to her?  Is she still looking for her baby?  Does Puff Daddy have a soft spot for the light music station?  This is another example of odd musical pairings that totally work and leave it to Puffy to pioneer the art of musical interpolation and mixing the unlikeliest songs.

.Girl Talk – “Shut The Club Down”
Sample: Aphex Twin – “Girl/Boy Song” (among 16 other song snippets)

It was hard selecting a sample of DJ Girl Talk‘s dizzying, creative as hell, genius mash-up tracks off Feed The Animals, but “Shut The Club Down” is one of my favorite tracks.  In this one song he samples everyone from Avril Lavigne, Aphex Twin, Jay-Z, Rod Stewart, Butthole Surfers and Ray J, among others.  I chose to feature the Aphex Twin track because he selects the breakdown of the incredible “Girl/Boy Song” during this track’s breakdown, while lacing in Rich Boy’s “Throw Some D’s.”  Girl Talk finds a way to satisfy any type of musical enthusiast: 80s, rock, hip hop, synthpop, and pop.  I can’t wait to finally catch a set of his at Street Scene San Diego next month.  I’m going to wear my “Engineers Do It Better” t-shirt and hope he picks me out of the audience to jump in his inflatable raft and crowd surf.  Sigh, I love me some Girl Talk.

On Tuesday, August 4th, music historian/author Richie Unterberger is hosting an event to discuss his new book, White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-By-Day, from 7pm-9pm at Robin’s Books/Moonstone Arts Center at 110a S. 13th Street in Philadelphia (13th between Sansom and Drury/Chestnut). The presentation will include rare audiovisual material from throughout the Velvet Underground’s career  and signed copies of the book will be available for purchase. Admission is free.

The Velvet Underground, fiercely confrontational, literate, primitive, and heartbreakingly melodic, remain one of the most influential bands in the history of rock, inspiring everyone from David Bowie to The Jesus and Mary Chain. Surprisingly, the group was unsuccessful in its day, selling small numbers of records, largely because its monochrome look and photo-realist lyrics were at odds with the garish colors and peace fantasies of the hippie era. It was only when Bowie started to champion the band in the early ‘70s, after the group had split up, that the Velvet Underground’s reputation started to spread.

In White Light/White Heat, Unterberger analyzes the band’s career and influence in forensic detail, drawing on dozens of new interviews with band members and associates, previously undiscovered archive sources, and a vast knowledge of the music of the times. The result is an articulate, authoritative, immensely detailed history, the most thorough work on the band yet published.Unterberger is an acclaimed author and music historian, renowned for his meticulous research, so it should be no surprise that In White Light/White Heat is poised to become the quintessential Velvet Underground tome.

White Light/White Heat, now available on Jawbone Press, is by far the most comprehensive book on the Velvet Underground ever published. The 368-page volume details the group’s recording sessions, record releases, concerts, press reviews, and other major events shaping their career with both thorough detail and critical insight. Drawing on about 100 interviews and exhaustive research through documents and recordings rarely or never accessed, it unearths stories that have seldom been told, and eyewitness accounts that have seldom seen print, from figures ranging from band members to managers, producers, record executives, journalists, concert promoters, and fans.

White Light/White Heat also features more than 100 illustrations, including reproductions of rarely or never seen photos, concert posters, letters, and other assorted documents and memorabilia. It’s the ultimate history of the band that did more than any other to break down barriers between rock music and the avant-garde, incorporating electronic innovations, experimental instrumentation and improvisation, and lyrics detailing the realities of sex, drugs, and rock’n'roll with greater skill and daring than anyone else.

In addition to being a regular contributor to the All Music website, Mojo, Record Collector and many other publications, Unterberger has also written dozens of liner notes for CD reissues of classic 60s and 70s albums. His previous books include Unknown Legends of Rock’n'Roll, Eight Miles High and Turn! Turn! Turn!

No music fan should miss Unterberger’s appearance on Tuesday, August 4th from 7pm-9pm at Robin’s Books/Moonstone Arts Center in Philadelphia. It’s the best music event in the city that night until Gang Gang Dance takes stage at Kung Fu Necktie later that night, and it’s free! So no excuses!

Richie Unterberger: website | buy now

Our 2,000th post!

Welcome back, readers to Under Cover: Annie Lennox.  Some kids played with Barbie and Ken dolls, dreaming up scenarios of them living together as husband and wife in the Barbie dream house.  But if you were like me, you used to fantasize about David Bowie and Annie Lennox teaming up and becoming the most badass husband and wife music team since, well, no one?  Ever the rock and roll match-maker, I always thought they belonged together.  I mean, both are legendary blue-eyed soul singers, British, dynamic stage performers, the de facto King and Queen of androgyny, and are practically gay icons for LGBT music lovers everywhere.  They sang duets together (although not nearly as often as I’d have liked), they could have easily shared clothes, applied each other’s make-up and provided each other with fashion tips… so why didn’t it happen!?  Alas, it wasn’t in the stars and I realized long ago that it was just another musical fantasy I had to tuck away in my hope chest.  But whether or not David Bowie is by her side, Annie Lennox is still one of the most exciting female singers and one of my personal favorites.  Whether she’s begging “Why?” or “Walking On Broken Glass”, this Diva is “Honestly” a tribute to music “Womankind” and I would rather look Medusa in the eye before giving up her unique discography.  I know Annie said “No More I Love You’s” but I can’t apologize for loving her so much when clearly it’s all her fault!
–

.The Lover Speaks – “No More I Love You’s” (original 1986)
I’m usually a huge fan of British new wave, but The Lover Speaks‘ original version of “No More I Love You’s” is slightly irritating and unremarkable at best.  The male vocals are grandiose and dramatic in the vein of a cheap Erasure imitation, the tempo is slow and unmoving and stagnant, and even the saving grace – the female background singer with her do-do-do-do-do-ohh’s – can’t seem to to wake this song up from its overwhelmingly languid manner.  I’m not quite sure what they’re trying to sell here, but I sure as hell ain’t sold on anything.  Lead singer David Freeman alone sings in a less than compelling style that may mesh well with the overall monotonous sound yet still makes the listener feel like he doesn’t even want to be there.  This version doesn’t exactly save the Queen… instead, it puts her to sleep.

.Annie Lennox – “No More I Love You’s” (cover, 1995)
Wow!  Leave it to Miss Lennox to make a diamond out of a lump of coal.  She took the limp original and completely breathed fresh new life into this cover tune that is quite simply a musical triumph.  Her operatic vocals soar above the music, the background vocals are soft, innocent, and pure, and she manages to communicate the beautiful lyrics a zillion times better than the original by virtue of the fact that you can actually hear what she’s saying.  Plus, her vocal delivery is so genuine, sincere, and aurally pleasing that it only matches the simple message of this love song gone awry.  And when she sings “No more I love youuuuuuu’s, the language is leaving me in silence” you actually can tell she means it.  The originally could barely create a single goosebump, but this song gives me chill upon chill everytime I hear it.
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.Neil Young – “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” (original 1970)
Gotta love a song called “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” that actually has a way of bringing you down whenever you listen to it.  Neil Young would be the genius behind this bluesy rock anthem for anyone in the throes of cognitive dissonance.  This song is downtrodden and mellow, manages to be therapeutic while simultaneously perpetuating the blues, and just sways back and forth like a couple slow dancing.  While Young’s vocals always sound stung out and strained, he manages to lull listeners into this lingering state of listlessness and ennui that almost seems like a desirable destination.  But don’t get excited- the song starts and ends in the same somber place with no resolution in sight.  I can’t stand this track as much as I actually kinda sorta of love it.  It’s the perfect musical paradox.

.Annie Lennox – “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” (1995)
Some of you may recognize this track from that climactic scene in American Beauty when Kevin Spacey‘s character almost succumbs to the temptation of his 16 year old daughter’s best friend (Mena Suvari), who just so happens to turn this song on the stereo.  I absolutely love Lennox’s creative attempt to revamp Neil Young’s sullen version into something that starts of decidedly blue but somehow manages to end on a positive note.  The synth is full-bodied, moody, and definitely contributes to this overall feeling of tension and heaviness, yet her vocals almost sound like tiny churps that take the listener to a place beyond the gloom.  I like how the music swells and the background vocalists fill out the song as Lennox comes at you with much more fortitude as the song progresses.  This cover version is the kind of mood music that helps listeners lose the ‘tude.  Keep them coming, Annie!