Monday 3 August 2009

SOULSAVERS – SUNRISE (V2)


SOULSAVERS – SUNRISE (V2)

Providing something of a vehicle for the finest voices of our generation’s alternative rock voices this is a very solid single making the most of what god has handed them to work with.

This release sees Will Oldham going head to head with Mark Lanegan. A number of years ago I used to belittle the efforts of Oldham to my friend, choosing to instead expound on the offerings of Lanegan as being far superior. This was evening before he had gained a surge in credibility but unsurprisingly I found myself being lambasted, which I think was the intention of my comment in the first place. The words “to me they inhabit different worlds” have always stuck with me. However here they both are exchanging sides of a single, covering each other’s songs. I guess I wasn’t so far after all, undeserving of my indie lambasting.

“Sunrise” is a Lanegan composition to which Oldham does a great service as do the Soulsavers with a classy backing that eventually finds itself drenched with harmonica in most exhilarating and haunting fashion. To his credit Oldham does not attempt to ape Lanegan’s vocals but he does audibly stretch his own range. By the end of proceedings I feel I am listening to the best thing Oldham has done in a very long time. This weighs heavy.

On the flipside Lanegan has a crack at “You Will Miss Me When I Burn”, which in my opinion happens to be one of Oldham’s strongest songs and definitely one of my favourite. Here however Lanegan unfortunately sounds achingly like something towards Bruce Springsteen and as a horrid strings drop in on the action the song is ultimately butchered as it loses it emotional impact as every facet of this interpretation is just wrong. It might as well be fucking Chris Martin covering it for all the impression that it leaves. Scumbag.

Thesaurus moment: standards.

Soulsavers
Will Oldham
Mark Lanegan
V2

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