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Canadian songstress Serena Ryder’s had a productive decade, releasing four albums and three EPs of original material, alongside working as a lead vocalist on this year’s Great Lake Swimmers LP Lost Channels, since debuting in 1999. She’s marking ten years in the recorded-music business with a fittingly far-flung four-track covers EP, filtering Kylie Minogue, Jordin Sparks, Hank Williams, and here Ben Bridwell through her formidable pipes. The drifting, easy listening arrangement of BoH signature jam “The Funeral” is pretty low key, stripping the song of its ampitheater-ready dynamic climax, leaving just her voice to do the heavy lifting (not necessarily a bad thing when your voice sounds like Serena’s). So while it makes for some Triple A styled listening, it’s also emotionally custom-tailed to soundtrack a teen soap’s season-ending montage (attention, Alexandra Patsavas).

Here’s the list of EP covers:

“The Funeral” (Band Of Horses)
“No Air” (Jordin Sparks)
“Slow” (Kylie Minogue)
“Ramblin Man’” (Hank Williams)

Hear more at MySpace. Serena’s got a lot of shows in the next few weeks, many with Eric Hutchinson.

Headlining shows:
04/28 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Avalon Theater (Free)
04/29 – Denver, CO @ Soiled Dove ($9.73 Ticket)
05/01 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre ($5.00 ticket. Headlining show
05/02 – Detroit, MI @ Hard Rock Café. Free headlining show
05/03 – Plymouth, MI @ Downtown Plymouth. Free headlining show
05/04 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Café. Free headlining show

Opening for Eric Hutchinson
05/05 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
05/06 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
05/07 – New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
05/08 – Boston, MA @ The Roxy
05/09 – Northhampton, MA @ Pearl Street
05/10 – Bloomington, IN @ Bluebird
05/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
05/15 – Lexington, MI @ Lexington Music Theater
05/16 – Lexington, MI @ Lexington Music Theater
05/19 – Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
05/20 – Orlando, FL @ The Social
05/22 – Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl At Center Stage
05/23 – Towson, MD @ Recher Theater

Comments (10)
  1. Johnnyboy  |   Posted on Apr 27th, 2009

    Very pretty, but I must admit that what I like best about the original is how the dynamic shifts from funereal to rock epic. This version is just mellow throughout and is a little less interesting sonically. Nice, though.

  2. faas  |   Posted on Apr 27th, 2009

    i can’t get past it being in a different key. good try though.

  3. Serena Ryder is gold!

  4. Good try though?? omg…
    Serena, you are incredibly talented and versatile…your version of this song shows this remarkably. I saw you in Halifax last month and at StanFest a while back, and you blew me away both times. You are so high energy and entertaining, you really left us wanting more. Can’t wait for another opportunity to hear your wonderful music…keep it coming! BTW…heard a rendition you did of Illegal Smile and I LOVE IT!
    Wish you would have done that in hali, but…maybe next time?

  5. Its nice to here this cover. Seems like the music is pushed way back allowing her amazing voice to carry the changes. Thanks for posting, I definitely dig the last two Band Of Horses albums. Hopefully they can keep it happing on their third.

  6. wow, that’s angelic. It might be a better fit for the season-ender of Chuck, though, as that show is soberly staring at the headsman’s axe as I type…

  7. ww85  |   Posted on Apr 27th, 2009

    That sucks almost as bad as Limp Bizkit’s cover of Behind Blue Eyes. Take a great power ballad (for lack of a better term) and turn it into a limp weenie weeper…

  8. Johnny Just  |   Posted on Apr 28th, 2009

    weird to hear somebody cover a song that band of horses ripped off from Hula years before:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ofkObmdrK0

  9. L to the M  |   Posted on Jun 18th, 2009

    Its a great version, so haunting, what a real treat
    I cant wait for the EP!

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