We are very pleased to premiere the new single ‘Everything I Wanted’ from New Zealand born, Europe/UK resident Blair Jollands. In a departure from my usual reviews, this is actually a cover of a Billie Eilish song and to my mind, covers are only interesting when they bring something new and unexpected to a track. Jollands does just this: his voice is an extraordinary instrument and adds a whole dimension to the track. With traces of Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright and Scott Walker in tone, Jollands adds a deep profundity to his delivery that resonates strongly, with a scintillating organic and acoustic tracking that contrasts from the original synth based version.
Jollands explains his choice:
I was looking for a song to cover that was understated, highly emotive and yet something I could produce that didn’t copy the original track, but present a fresh approach to it. Eilish & producer / brother Finneas incorporate electronic elements in their work so I endeavoured to keep all the instruments acoustic. This resulted in a slightly darker rendition of her song. A song might have different meanings to each and everyone of us. I didn’t choose the song because of what it personally meant to Billie, but because of its sound and the emotion it provoked when I first listened to it.
The fringe of horns in the distance, clattering subtle percussion and crystalline guitars provide a perfect base for Jolland’s dulcet vocals, accompanied by mountain range of layered vocal harmonies adding an indelible sheen. There is a glorious melancholic timbre to the track that veers into an almost disco/soul beat, creating a delicious contrast to the yearning vocals:
‘Everything I Wanted’ is out through MARS Label Group on Friday, 26 August 2022 and you can pre-save it here.
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