Covers
Self-Released, 2021
9/10
The Canadian singer-songwriter Mo Kenney has had an impressive career so far, and for this 4th album the multi-instrumentalist offers us, you guessed it, a covers record of varied legends like Patsy Cline, Daniel Romano and even Tom Petty, among many others.
Kenney starts the listen with Big Star’s “Thirteen”, where gentle acoustic guitar complements the soft and expressive singing in the bare beauty, and “Slow Death”, a Seth Smith tune, is even more gorgeous as Kenney’s stirring pipes really shine amid the hypnotic guitar work.
Though the bulk of the tunes are just acoustic guitar and vocals, “Game Of Pricks”, by Guided By Voices, recruits Joel Plaskett on piano, where a darker avenue is explored with much eloquence, while “Sour Girl” is a louder display of rugged yet pretty folk-rock on the Stone Temple Pilots original. “Strange Powers”, the best of the best here, then does justice to The Magnetic Fields tune with agile finger picking alongside Kenney’s sublime singing.
Near the end, “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” brings Plaskett back on organ for the atmospheric version of The Kinks tune, and “Swimming Song” exits the listen with a thoughtful, memorable and graceful interpretation of the Loudon Wainwright III track.
Kenney has made quite a name for herself in her home country, and how she’s evaded global fame is beyond me, as she’s a formidable talent that resonates with a timelessness that parallels the greatness of the artists she reworks here.
Travels well with: David Myles- So Far; Daniel Romano- Mosey