Listen: On Video Cover Paul McCartney's Electro-Pop Jam 'Temporary Secretary'

Words: Saam Das

London garage rock outfit On Video have impressed us since they appeared earlier in the year, with a string of thrilling new tracks, pooled together as the 'Clap Trap' EP. Possibly in celebration of his Glastonbury 2020 headline slot, the quartet have now brought us a cover of Paul McCartney's 'Temporary Secretary', an unexpectedly avant-garde number that we hadn't come across previously. Thanks chaps. Listen to both versions below.

Listen: Biffy Clyro Make 'Tiny Changes' On Cover Of Frightened Rabbit Classic 'The Modern Leper'

Words: Saam Das

The Kübler-Ross model posits five stages of grief, namely denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Biffy Clyro appear to have bundled all of these stages into one song, covering Frightened Rabbit's 'The Modern Leper' for a new covers album organised by the remaining band members, following the devastating loss of frontman Scott Hutchison in May 2018.

Download: Julien Baker - Everybody Lost Somebody (Bleachers Cover)

Words: Saam Das

The latest in Bleachers' sold-out vinyl-only series 'Terrible Thrills Vol.3' has finally made its way to fans across the world, and thanks to Twitter user _jspain and Jack Antonoff from the band, we can share the latest material. Listen to Julien Baker's melodic cover of Bleachers' 'Everybody Lost Somebody' below.

Listen: JUNKS - Smells Like Chinese Teen Spirit (Nirvana Cover)

Words: Saam Das

It's 25 years since the passing of iconic Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who died by suicide on April 5th 1994. His work has thankfully lived on, through records like 1991's seminal 'Nevermind', which acts almost as a rite of passage for any alternative-leaning teenage music fan. Its opening track, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', has been transformed into beguiling synthwave from Chinese outfit JUNKS.

Download: Mitski - Let's Get Married (Bleachers Cover)

Words: Saam Das

Following the release of Bleachers' excellent 2014 debut album 'Strange Desire', they got some pals together to record covers of each of the tracks, releasing the compilation as 'Terrible Thrills Vol. 2'. Follow-up album 'Gone Now' dropped in 2017, and the band are repeating the trick for a limited edition vinyl series - sadly all four releases are sold out already. However, thanks to frontman Jack Antonoff's encouragement, you can listen to the debut 'Terrible Thrills Vol. 3' release, featuring Mitski, below.

Surfacing: YVA [New Act]

Words: Saam Das

London singer-songwriter Eva Stone has embraced the whole "new year, new you" mantra, emerging with a new guise YVA. The first taste of her new self is unusually a cover, albeit a considerable departure from the James Bay original. Listen to YVA's 'Pink Lemonade' below.

Free Download: Bossy Love - Breathe (Remix Of Blu Cantrell)

Words: Saam Das

Late noughties outfits Dananananaykroyd and Operator Please may not have had all that much in common aside from some serious blog love, but now they've come together (in a sense) as Bossy Love. Combining John Baillie Junior and Amandah Wilkinson from the former and latter outfits respectively, the duo of Bossy Love isn't quite Blu Cantrell and Sean Paul (but who could be?!) yet their own twist on 2003 UK #1 single 'Breathe' is fire.

Listen: Grace Lightman - Blue Christmas [Cover]

Words: Saam Das

Christmas might be over for another year but Grace Lightman has come to the rescue, and it can live on in your earphones/headphones/stereo with this cover of 'Blue Christmas', which appears to be her first new material since her 2017 single 'Halloween Is Over'/'Fangs'. Listen to the cover, and watch its Alex Lightman (presumably a relation?) directed video, below.

Listen: Weezer - Africa [Toto Cover]

Words: Saam Das

Okay, so where did this come from? Weezer covering Toto's absurdly brilliant 1982 smash 'Africa'. Well, it turns out it was basically all down to one person on one Twitter account, the aptly named @WeezerAfrica. And comes just days after the band released a cover of another Toto track, 'Rosanna'. Have a listen to both tracks below.

Listen: Sebastian Kole - Hello (Adele Cover)

Words: Saam Das

Adele dropped the first taste of her '25' album yesterday, in the form of soaring ballad, 'Hello'. Understandably, the covers have already begun. They'll undoubtedly be a mixed bag, but we're glad to say that Sebastian Kole's melodic effort is up there with Adele's track - and we might even cheekily suggest that it supercedes the original.

Listen: TLC - Waterfalls (AOSOON Cover)

Words: Saam Das

We only just wrote about London twosome AOSOON (AlotOfSomethingOutOfNothing) in our tips for The Great Escape 2015, but they've only gone and covered RnB legends TLC, who we've always had a soft spot for. (One of our posts is even cited on a TLC Wikipedia page, which is obviously a career highlight.) Check out the acoustic cover and the original track below:

Download: Treasureseason - Mad World (Tears For Fears Cover)

Words: Saam Das

I have vivid memories of being somewhat befuddled by a clip of 'Donnie Darko' late one night on the BBC film show with Jonathan Ross, and effectively forcing a group of my schoolfriends to see the film with me the next weekend. Followed by a KFC bargain bucket. What a whirlwind day. One of the most lasting impressions from the cult film was Gary Jules and Michael Andrews' dark version of 'Mad World' - synthy duo Treasureseason have made a similarly evocative cover.

Listen: HATS - 6 Words (Wretch 32 Cover)

Words: Saam Das

We last caught up with HATS under their previous moniker of John And Garry, the sibling duo from Ayrshire. The Kerr brothers seem to have moved slightly further south now, to sunny Manchester, while still retaining the emotive spirit that saw me originally compare the band to Idlewild and Biffy Clyro. Even on their latest track, a cover of Wretch 32's new single '6 Words'.

Download: boxboxbox - I Get Wet (Andrew WK Cover)

Words: Saam Das

Mancunian trio boxboxbox recently dropped us a line with their new free EP, 'Dive' and we were suitably impressed. A mesmerising collection of electronica, complete with a tremendous cover of Andrew WK party classic 'I Get Wet'. Compare and contrast the boxboxbox glitchy update with the Andrew WK original below, along with the rest of the EP.

Listen: The Night VI - I Would Die 4 U [Prince Cover]

Words: Saam Das // Photo: Cat Stevens

I think there's pretty much three camps when it comes to covers: Type A - who consider many such acts almost sacrilegious / Type B - who are generally apathetic about the idea and execution of a cover / Type C - those who often enjoy a revised edition to an original, even if it sometimes approaches karaoke. I'd largely pop myself in the Type C bracket, and I'm very much enjoying The Night VI's version of 'I Would Die 4 U' by Prince.

Listen: Alice Jemima - No Diggity (Blackstreet Cover)

Words: Saam Das

If you read the work of our blog pals Breaking More Waves, Flying With Anna, and/or Just Music I Like, you'll almost certainly have encountered 19 year old Devon singer-songwriter Alice Jemima before. (And if you don't read any of those blogs then you really should.) Here, she delivers an excellent cover of the Blackstreet RnB classic 'No Diggity'.