‘Takes’ takes but it gives back too.
Cover albums are a funny breed. At times they can be a wonderful insight into an artists influences and a genuine labour of love. At other times, they can be cheap and rushed cash-ins that take the place of a proper release when an act lacks artistic inspiration or realises that they need to cash in on their five minutes of fame. It is fair to say that Adem wont have tossed out this record to bleed the British public of their hard earned cash. The songs all hail from between 1991 and 2001, the decade that inspired and informed Adem through his musical youth (no they are not featured on this record) and no doubt some of the songs will mean a lot to him.
With artists like Yo La Tengo, The Breeders, PJ Harvey and Low providing the original tracks there is no doubting the quality and it can’t be said that Adem is chasing the commercial market. However, no matter the original artist, every song manages to come through sounding like an Adem track.
This is a good thing in that it shows he is able to bring his touch to any range of material but it does mean that the beauty of some of the original tracks are lost. That’s not to say that these songs aren’t good and intriguing in their own way, its just a little bit too samey. If you were to compare it to Kathryn Williams covers album, this lacks in invention and spark that her record showed. Again, Kathryn Williams cover album should stand as one of the best cover records of recent years (if not of all time) so it’s a high benchmark to be compared to.
Okay, we’ve possibly stumbled over some down sides of the record so let’s move it to the good points and there are many. dEUS are a band this writer has very little time for but ‘Hotellounge’ is handled masterfully here with the chorus being sparked to life with an excitement and passionate delivery that wasn’t heard in the original. Adems’ simplistic acoustic strum and fractured vocal delivery brings the words to life and it can easily catch the listener out as being a hidden gem on the record. ‘The Invisible Man’ by The Breeders is given a joyous airing with the cooing backing vocals and ringing backing track making it a happy song yet still maintaining the Adem sound throughout the record.
The album is brought to a close with a version of ‘Laser Beam’ by Low and again, if it doesn’t quite live up to the original, this is because the original is such an excellent song from an outstanding band. That said, Adem does bring his own stamp to it and it is a fitting end to an enjoyable and sedate record.
With two albums of his own already released, Adem has proved he has the ability to write his own tunes so this is merely a welcome sideshow that will appeal to fans and possible onlookers.