I thought I'd drop a few humpday treats for you this week - three covers and an original! Ah. Joy. So first up, a fantastic cover by one Natasha Bedingfield. Bedingfield is very high up in my books as one of the three artists (alongside Stereophonics and Lily Allen) who mark themselves out as fantastic cover artists. Sure, all three artists are responsible for fantastic original music, but they also consistently create perfect covers that often surpass the originals. Stereophonics have, amongst many others have performed the definitive version of Handbags & Gladrags. Lily Allen has outdone Keane and The Pretenders, amongst others, and Natasha Bedingfield has perhaps created the greatest miracle outside of theology in making a Madonna track - that I like! Oh my.
So yes, here we have the well-loved hit 'Ray of Light' made, well, good. Bedingfield's voice has more strength than Arnie on steroids, and it works so well you'll forget the torturous pop massacre it originates from. There's a risk that I may fall in love with her. I tell you what though: I have a challenge for her. Can she make Avril Lavigne's first album listenable? What about Busted? Hm.
mp3: 'Ray of Light' by Natasha Bedingfield
How about more 'classic' pop reimagined? The Bird and the Bee are a band I have had very little exposure to. They're LA-based and are fun, but that's as far as I can go with my knowledge of them. Oh, wait. They also make music. Wow. I know everything, no? Here they cover 'How Deep Is Your Love', originally a Beegees hit, and then in the 90s a hit once more, this time for Take That. The Bird and the Bee's version is a sweet, innocent affair, and it ever so slightly outshines the original.
mp3: 'How Deep Is Your Love' by The Bird and the Bee
And finally we reach The Holloways, a band whom I've been a follower of for almost two years now. On the soon-to-be British institution that is BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, The Holloways recently covered Gwen Stefani in their typical summer styling. Personally, I can't get into Gwen Stefani, who seems to be lost between being Japanese and being a moron, but whilst this cover will never go down as an all-time classic alongside Buckley's 'Hallelujah' and Cash's 'Hurt', there is an undeniable injection of life to the Stefani staple. I'm also chucking in a Holloways b-side for you, in the form of 'One Mad Kiss', a jangly ode to love at first sight, which leaves me smiling every time. Wonderful.
mp3: 'The Sweet Escape' by The Holloways
mp3: 'One Mad Kiss' by The Holloways
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