Indie fixture Father/Daughter Records is celebrating 15 years of existence with the F/D Fifteen series, in which artists from the label are covering songs by other artists in the catalog. The latest installment comes from mui zyu, who delivered a haunting take on "Astral Plane" from Shamir's 2017 F/D debut Revelations. What began as an indie-pop/reggae hybrid has been transformed into a shapeless, dreamy ballad that floats along a cloud, pierced partway through by searing electric guitar.
A statement from mui zyu:
I immediately loved the imagery in the song and the kind of classic 1950s feel. To me it could be about escaping from the material world (hell) to the astral plane (a kind of alternative heaven) with the playful bleakness of having to 'work on the astral plane'. We tried to create these plane-y textures in the production to represent that space, and have moments in the music climbing up to, and falling down from, them to tell the story.
And one from Shamir:
I don't even know where to begin.... I'm SO deeply honored. That song was actually my least favorite from Revelations, I don't know what possessed me to make a reggae-ish song, but my mental health was in a bad place at that time so I was just doing anything. This cover made me appreciate my song for the first time like.... ever? Love it.
Listen below.
