Eponymous 4

What if?

What if Garbage covered Linda Ronstadt? What if Boy-era U2 covered Bruce Robison? Or My Bloody Valentine covering Gabby Pahinui?

That’s the approach of 「新曲モラトリアム英語版」 (Shinkyoku Moratorium Eigoban, or New Song Moratorium English Edition.) Imagine how a song would sound filtered through another aesthetic.

In this case, I wanted to find out what happened if Alice in Chains had performed “Miss You Much” instead of Janet Jackson. How would Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” sound if its creative DNA got spliced with Arvo Pärt’s Fratres? What happens when Explosions in the Sky covers Roberta Flack?

The only straight forward cover on this album is Robin Holcomb’s “So Straight and Slow.”

Covers are tricky business, a balancing act between honoring a song’s artistic intent and a performer’s need to localize it in his or her aesthetic. I choose to commandeer others.