Polyvinyl Records are excited to announce the December 1st release of Other People’s Songs, a collection of cover songs recorded by Mike Kinsella (American Football, Owls) under his Owen moniker. The album features selections from artists including Against Me!, Depeche Mode, The Promise Ring, Lungfish, and more. As a preview of what is to come, Stereogum have premiered the album’s cover of The Smoking Pope’s excellent “Under The Blanket”, from their 1993 7” EP 2.
Other People’s Songs was recorded this spring in Chicago with trusted producer Neil Strauch. With the help of female vocalist Sarah Mitchell, as well as occasional touches of violin and cello, Kinsella transforms each selection in unique and surprising ways. At first glance, the list of the rock and punk artists tackled might seem at odds with the often quieter, lushly arranged music Kinsella releases as Owen. But upon closer inspection, one finds the kind of excellent songwriting and lyrical wit that are hallmarks of Kinsella’s own recorded output.
Mike Kinsella has spent nearly his entire life (give or take those first 12 years or so) playing with some of the most influential bands of the last couple decades. Indeed, an entire generation of musicians is indebted to his time in groups including Cap’n Jazz, American Football, and Owls. After each of those bands dissolved for one reason or another, Kinsella took to recording under the pseudonym Owen and has slowly and steadily built up a solid catalog of releases under this solo project. Among other critical praise his work has been lauded by SPIN for its “disarming intimacy,” and Magnet labeled Kinsella “the most innovative guitarist of his mid-to-late ’90s indie-rock cohort.”
Other People’s Songs Track Listing:
01 – Descender (Lungfish)
02 – Girl in a Box (Blake Babies)
03 – Some Kinda Angel (Mojave 3)
04 – Forget Me (The Promise Ring)
05 – Judas (Depeche Mode)
06 – Just Like Them (ALL)
07 – Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart (Against Me!)
08 – Under the Blanket (The Smoking Popes)
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