The Anchoress has announced that she will release her anticipated covers album Versions through the recently relaunched Drowned in Sound label on October 6.
Videos for covers of Manic Street Preachers' This Is Yesterday and New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle have already been released and the new album see Catherine Anne Davies also tackling songs by Radiohead (Climbing Up The Walls), All About Eve (Martha's Harbour), Nico (These Days), The Cure (Friday I'm In Love) and more.
“There can be a bit of snobbery around covers”, Davies says. “People assume that they just slavishly follow the original recording, missing the amazing opportunity that they present to re-envision and re-cast something - a real gift to anyone developing their craft as a recording engineer or producer. I found myself exploring arrangement and production particularly deeply because of the nature of having a ready-made song to play with.
"It’s a gift to allow yourself to focus purely on the components parts of the arrangement and then, in turn, dig deeply into how the production and mix will serve your chosen mood and take on the already familiar song, without having to worry about whether you want to refine a lyric or if the chorus is “impactful” enough. The heavy-lifting has already been done by the songwriter. Your job is only to re-cast it in a way that makes the listener hear it in a new or different light.”
Versions has been produced, mixed, and engineered by The Anchoress and mastered by Jon Astley (Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos) and also features guest appearances from multi-instrumentalist Charlie Cawood (Medieval Baebes, Kyros).
The album will be released on limited edition vinyl and CD, alongside a full digital release and will be pressed on Eco-Mix vinyl. You can view the new album artwork and tracklisting below.
The Anchoress: Versions
1. Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode)
2. Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order)
3. Climbing Up The Walls (Radiohead)
4. Friday I’m In Love (The Cure)
5. Pennyroyal Tea (Nirvana)
6. These Days (Nico)
7. Martha’s Harbour (All About Eve)
8. The Tradition (Halsey)
9. This Is Yesterday (Manic Street Preachers)
10. Sweetness Follows (R.E.M.)
