On his new cover album Pete Yorn Sings the Classics, which came out today, January 15 via Shelley Music, Pete Yorn takes on a number of well-loved hits, including Audrey Hepburn's "Moon River," The Velvet Underground's "New Age," Kirsty MacColl's "The Don't Know" (which was a hit for Tracey Ullman), Roxy Music's "More Than This," Beach Boys' "Surfer Girl," The Stone Roses, "Ten Storey Love Song," Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am a Rock," and more. Liz Phair joins him on two tracks, The Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man" and Diana Ross' "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)."
About the album, Pete writes:
This here is that long-awaited "covers" record I have threatened for so, so long. Seems as good a time as ever. A good time for some new musical distraction. As you know, I’ve never been shy about celebrating my musical influences. I honor them and appreciate the fact that they have helped to inspire the style of music I create as my own. I have chosen to interpret and record this particular collection of songs for various reasons. Whether it was The Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man" or The Stone Roses' "Ten Storey Love Song," these songs all have one thing in common....they all stopped me in my tracks upon first discovery, simply because I loved the way they made me FEEL. They compelled me to listen repetitively...almost compulsively over and over again. Sometimes it was just the sentiment in the lyrics of a song like Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock," or maybe it was the hauntingly beautiful melody of the Roxy Music epic "More Than This." Either way, all of these songs resonated so deeply with me, they just made me want to sing along. They affected me emotionally, psychologically, and viscerally at one cosmic moment in time or another, and I carry a torch for them still. They helped me find daylight through the wilderness and allowed me to understand more about myself and the world. So with that in mind, I’m happy to share with you this interpretive full-length album. I had the pleasure of making this record with one of my oldest and best friends, Marc "Doc" Dauer. And it was just pure fun...ya know, getting to make music with a friend. I hope you get as much joy from this album as we did when we were recording it. Big love to you all and thx for checking it out.
You can stream the whole album below via Bandcamp.
