A thoroughly enjoyable reprisal and reinvigoration of an album which means so much to so many
I’ll be honest – I love a good cover version. For me, there’s a great art to making a successful cover, as not everyone can master it. The trick is to strike the right balance between paying homage to the original, while still putting enough of a unique spin on it to make the song your own. Too similar and people will just continue to reach for the original, too different and you may anger the fanbase.
Navigating this tricky minefield, we have a collection of renowned artists who have been roped into submitting covers for this new rendition of American Football’s seminal debut. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Midwest-emo godfathers from Illinois have asked some of their favourite artists, both established and new, to put a fresh spin on some of their most iconic tracks. It’s a daunting prospect - one that I will admit filled me with dread the first time I heard of the project, with the pessimist in me seeing it as maybe just a cash-in opportunity. But when I saw the list of artists, my mind was instantly put at ease, knowing full well the likes of Blondshell, Ethel Cain and Manchester Orchestra would be up to the challenge – and thankfully I was (mostly) right.
This covers version sees each artist perfectly capture the mood and atmosphere of the original, while sonically offering something new at every turn. American singer-songwriter Samuel Bream, AKA Iron & Wine, probably has the record’s toughest job, covering the much-loved and heavily-memed 'Never Meant'. However, he puts everything at ease right up front, transforming the math-rock classic into a soothing, contemporary folk ballad - one that wouldn’t sound out of place on Bon Iver’s latest EP. Sabrina Teitelbaum, AKA Blondshell, then breathes fresh life into 'The Summer Ends', turning the
volume up on the song’s melancholic ambience, replacing it with some soaring indie rock passages and her passionate vocal cries. Welsh singer-songwriter Novo Amor (Ali John Meredith-Lacey) and English multi-instrumentalist Lowswimmer (Ed Tullett) then combine for an utterly stunning version of 'Honestly?', drenching it in strings and rich, luscious instrumentation, before laying some ethereal vocals over the top. All three covers are honestly a sublime start to the record, surpassing expectations.
'For Sure' was always going to be one of the trickiest songs of which to nail a cover, with it being easily one of the most beautiful tracks on the original American Football record. So how does adored American singer-songwriter Ethel Cain make it better? By expanding it into 10-minutes of understated and sprawling shoegaze, allowing you, the listener, to soak in the song’s gorgeous arrangement that little bit longer. Her voice is absolutely haunting too, successfully capturing the emotional hit that made the original such an affecting classic.
The cover is so great that it proves a tough act to follow, with Covet frontwoman Yvette Young’s reimagining of 'You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon' feeling more subtle in its approach by comparison. The Californian musician simply adds strings and slight texture changes to the album’s only instrumental track, with many elements of the original song still present. Mexican R&B artist Girl Ultra then brings about more radical changes, pulling 'But the Regrets Are Killing Me' into the 21st Century with a hip-hop style beat and some glitchy vocal distortion, while still maintaining the presence of some spacey, downbeat guitars. Buffalo-native M.A.G.S then slightly livens up 'I’ll See You When We’re Both Not So Emotional' with a bit more rock angst, but admittedly all three feel more like enjoyable updates rather than revelatory new renditions.
Legendary indie rock band Manchester Orchestra then had the impossible task of covering arguably American Football’s best song to date – the spellbinding epic 'Stay Home'. Ultimately they can’t help but fall short, with their rendition sadly just coming off as a watered down version of the original that just never packs the same punch. Thankfully though Chicago-based producer John McEntire pulls things back at the end, turning 'The One With The Wurlitzer' into a fun, synth-soaked electronic piece. It does admittedly sound completely out of place compared to the rest of the covers here and throws out the record’s impressive cohesion up until this point - but enjoyed in isolation, it works.
Overall, the opening quartet of tracks here is more than enough to justify this project’s existence, with the other covers also an interesting listen despite not always hitting the same heights. While it was never going to replace or topple the original American Football record, as someone who adores that album, I still thoroughly enjoyed hearing these artists reprise, and in some cases reinvigorate, a collection of songs that means so much to me, and many others around the world.
Rating: 7/10 (original album rating: 10/10)
American Football (Covers) is out now via Polyvinyl Record Co.