The Elton John championed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist and producer The Anchoress (aka Catherine Anne Davies) will release her album of modern reworkings, ‘Versions’ this autumn via the recently relaunched Drowned in Sound label, compiling ten re-imaginings of songs by the likes of Depeche Mode, The Cure, Nirvana, Nico and Halsey, all produced and mixed by Davies.
The album will appear on limited edition vinyl and CD, alongside a full digital release and will be pressed on Eco-Mix vinyl. As Davies explains, “Each record pressed will be a completely unique combination, reworked from leftover wax pellets which feels very apt for the concept of the album, as well as being a more eco-friendly method of production. I love the idea that, like the collection of songs being pieces of other people’s imaginations, this record is quite literally made up of unused parts of other records.”
The ‘Versions’ project was initially born as Catherine sought to flex her production and arrangement skills following the success of her second album ‘The Art of Losing’. She set about re-working classic alternative songs to probe the possibilities of reimagining well-known compositions in new contexts.
On choosing which tracks to cover, Davies says that she was mostly led by an “instinct where I felt I could add a new or different perspective to something that was already really familiar to listeners. I tackled some pretty sacred cows – the Radiohead, Nirvana, Depeche Mode. It was sometimes nerve wracking releasing one into the wild, waiting to get told you’ve ruined someone’s favourite song. I wanted to choose songs that had a special significance to fans and be brave and courageous in rethinking that in a new way.”
‘Versions’ features songs such as her dream-pop reworking of ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ by New Order and her synth-drenched nostalgic reimagining of the dark Manics classic from The Holy Bible, ‘This Is Yesterday’ (as seen at this year’s Glastonbury Festival).
“There can be a bit of snobbery around covers”, Davies adds, “People assume that they just slavishly follow the original recording, missing the amazing opportunity that they present to re-envision and re-cast something – a real gift to anyone developing their craft as a recording engineer or producer. I found myself exploring arrangement and production particularly deeply because of the nature of having a ready-made song to play with. It’s a gift to allow yourself to focus purely on the components parts of the arrangement and then, in turn, dig deeply into how the production and mix will serve your chosen mood and take on the already familiar song, without having to worry about whether you want to refine a lyric or if the chorus is “impactful” enough. The heavy-lifting has already been done by the songwriter. Your job is only to re-cast it in a way that makes the listener hear it in a new or different light.”
Check out ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ – BELOW:
‘Versions’ was produced, mixed, and engineered by The Anchoress and mastered by Jon Astley (Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos) and also features guest appearances from multi-instrumentalist Charlie Cawood (Medieval Baebes, Lost Knives). The album will be released to coincide with a run of autumn shows, including a brand new London date on 6th October 2023, at the Union Chapel.
VERSIONS TRACKLISTING
1 Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode)
2 Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order)
3 Climbing Up The Walls (Radiohead)
4 Friday I’m In Love (The Cure)
5 Pennyroyal Tea (Nirvana)
6 These Days (Nico)
7 Martha’s Harbour (All About Eve)
8 The Tradition (Halsey)
9 This Is Yesterday (Manic Street Preachers)
10 Sweetness Follows (R.E.M.)
11 Bonus Track (CD only) Friday I’m In Love (Acoustic Version)
2023 Tour Dates
02 Sept BLANDFORD, End Of The Road Festival
21 Sept LIVERPOOL, Leaf
22 Sept EDINBURGH, Summerhall
23 Sept HULL, Central Library
24 Sept LEEDS, Brudenell Social Club
30 Sept CARDIFF, Acapella – SOLD OUT
04 Oct CAMBRIDGE, Junction
06 Oct LONDON, UNION CHAPEL
The album can be pre-ordered from 9 am Friday 4th August (today) – https://iamtheanchoress.bandcamp.com/album/versions
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