So far, I have predominately covered (see what I did there?) well known artists recording their own versions of pretty well known songs, but this time around, I thought I would try something a little different.
In past articles, I shared my obsession with rock music. Well I have also been infatuated with covers done by Youtubers for as long as I have been using the internet. This could have something to with the young, unrealized desire that every kid has to be a pop or rock star, but I am going to attribute it to young me preparing sophomore-in-college me for these weekly posts.
Regardless, my fascination with, for lack of a better word, “amateur” covers has driven me to these three up-and-coming artists that recently flew across my radar.
“Toxic” by Melanie Martinez
Singer and photographer Melanie Martinez recorded a full cover of “Toxic” by Britney Spears and released it on Youtube Fall 2012. In January of the same year, a 17 year old Melanie performed the song when auditioning for the Voice; she caught the attention of Cee Lo, Blake Shelton, and Adam Levine, three out of four of the judges, and ended up on Adam’s team for four rounds. The young singer’s old school and hip hop influences birth a distinguishable electro-alternative sound that pays proper homage to pop star Spears, but breaths a new school life into one of her greatest hits. Melanie released her debut EP this past May and her track “Carousel” was featured in commercials for American Horror Story: Freak Show.
“Creep” by Daniela Andrade In 2012, chronic coverer Daniela Andrade recorded an acoustic version of Radiohead’s “Creep” at Crooked Lid Records. She has been posting covers as well as some of original works since 2008 and has released a couple of EPs. Daniela went simple for her cover, her voice and acoustic guitar being the only instruments she used. “Creep” voiced by a female highlights the self image problems that so many girls face today, especially when falling in love brings up insecurities that the didn’t even know they had. Her attachment to the song evoke such raw emotional nostalgia that can only come from someone who has felt Radiohead’s self-doubting pain before. In contrast, many of the original tracks that she has posted can only be described as feel-good music that celebrates the joy of young love. The first song of her’s that I ever saw pop up on my screen was “Don’t Care,” a track that came from a place with not very many words and a lot of feels.” See? Youtube ads are good for something.
“Pumped Up Kicks” by Troye Sivan Troye Sivan, a veteraned Youtuber jump-started his singing career with several covers, including that of “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People. His adolescent voice brings the focus to the lyrics which you may have missed before and his smooth vocality makes the words go down easy. Troye released an EP this past summer and also wrote a song based off the book The Fault In Our Stars to raise money for cancer patients at the Princess Margaret Hospital. He shot a music video at the hospital and spent some time with the kids there. All of the covers I mentioned as well as a couple of original songs by each artist are in this playlist here!