Shamir – “DsharpG” (Sharon Van Etten Cover)

Shamir – “DsharpG” (Sharon Van Etten Cover)

Last year, Sharon Van Etten’s much-loved sophomore album Epic had its 10th anniversary. This year, Van Etten is belatedly celebrating that anniversary with the release of a double-album reissue called epic Ten, which is set to feature a diverse and head-spinning array of artists singing the songs from Epic. One by one, those covers have been coming out. Today, we get another one.

We’re still waiting on the epic at Ten main event, which is Fiona Apple singing “Love More.” That one is going to be an event. We also haven’t heard Courtney Barnett and Vagabon doing “Don’t Do It” or St. Panther doing “One Day.” But Van Etten has shared some of the covers: Big Red Machine’s “A Crime,” IDLES’ “Peace Signs,” Lucinda Williams’ “Save Yourself.” And today, we get to hear Shamir singing the swirling, bottomlessly sad “DsharpG.”

Shamir Bailey has sung some truly astonishing covers in the past few years, and his take on “DsharpG” is a powerful one. Shamir’s version of the song is shorter and lighter than Van Etten’s, but it hits the same emotional notes. Shamir sings the song in a tender, floating, vulnerable tenor, surrounding himself with woozy synths and delay-heavy guitars, and it sounds lovely. Below, listen to the Shamir cover and the Sharon Van Etten original.

In a press release, Van Etten says:

I was drawn to Shamir’s music by the immediate authenticity and originality of his voice and instrumentation choices. It felt simultaneously throwback and very here and now. So many genres melting into one another, I couldn’t peg it, and I loved every minute of the wild ride. Not to mention that his vocal range is from another universe and his arrangements are dark and stormy. Self admittedly, I have a harder time keeping up with music today, but Shamir’s music stands out as truly original and a force to be reckoned with in his reimagining of a time where I grew up fondly, angsty and dreaming…

epic Ten is out digitally 4/16 and physically 6/11 on Ba Da Bing. Pre-order it here.

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