There are many pre-pandemic concert moments that now have a mystical quality to them. Neil Young reviving “On the Beach” for the first time in 16 years. Phoebe Bridgers performing “Garden Song” just weeks before lockdown. And Lana Del Rey recruiting Weyes Blood and Zella Day for a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “For Free” in the fall of 2019, onstage in — you guessed it — Los Angeles.
On Friday, Del Rey released her new album Chemtrails Over the Country Club, with the “For Free” cover as the final track. It appropriately follows “Dance Till We Die,” where she name checks Mitchell among several female icons: “I’m coverin’ Joni and I’m dancin’ with Joan/Stevie is callin’ on the telephone.” (Side note: Do Lana and Stevie text?)
Zella Day kicks off the first verse of “For Free” with Del Rey taking the reigns on the second. Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering is no stranger to Mitchell covers — check out her version of “River” or “Woodstock,” where she prefaces the latter with “I just wanted to say I wouldn’t exist without Joni Mitchell” — and it shows in the third verse, where her velvety vocals drive the song home.There are many pre-pandemic concert moments that now have a mystical quality to them. Neil Young reviving “On the Beach” for the first time in 16 years. Phoebe Bridgers performing “Garden Song” just weeks before lockdown. And Lana Del Rey recruiting Weyes Blood and Zella Day for a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “For Free” in the fall of 2019, onstage in — you guessed it — Los Angeles.
On Friday, Del Rey released her new album Chemtrails Over the Country Club, with the “For Free” cover as the final track. It appropriately follows “Dance Till We Die,” where she name checks Mitchell among several female icons: “I’m coverin’ Joni and I’m dancin’ with Joan/Stevie is callin’ on the telephone.” (Side note: Do Lana and Stevie text?)
Zella Day kicks off the first verse of “For Free” with Del Rey taking the reigns on the second. Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering is no stranger to Mitchell covers — check out her version of “River” or “Woodstock,” where she prefaces the latter with “I just wanted to say I wouldn’t exist without Joni Mitchell” — and it shows in the third verse, where her velvety vocals drive the song home.
The trio deliver the right amount of 21st century Laurel Canyon grandeur, even if Mitchell wrote the track after witnessing a New York City clarinet player on 6th street and 8th avenue. Del Rey may lean into Americana on Chemtrails Over the Country Club, but “For Free” is a fitting finale to the album, proving she’s first and foremost a Lady of the Canyon.
Find the vinyl of Chemtrails Over the Country. Find a playlist of all of our recent Songs You Need to Know selections on Spotify.
MUSIC PREMIERES
Four years on from the ‘Actual Life’ series lifting him into the mainstream spotlight, Fred Again.. continues to feel unavoidable. The London producer and DJ born Fred Gibson has moved at a relentless pace, bouncing between sold out stadium dates in New York and surprise appearances at Sheffield’s 1,000 capacity Forge, while also making history as the first electronic artist to top the bill at Reading and Leeds in 2024.
Where the ‘Actual Life’ releases and his fourth album, 2024’s ‘Ten Days’, leaned into warmth and joy pulled from ordinary moments, Gibson has also sharpened his instinct for high impact club weapons rooted in garage, dubstep and jungle. That side of his output lives on ‘USB’, an “infinite album” first imagined in 2022 as a home for tracks that exist outside any fixed universe, including defining moments like ‘Rumble’ and ‘Jungle’.
‘USB002’, the second vinyl only chapter of the ‘USB’ project, brings together 16 recent tracks, many of which surfaced gradually on streaming services over a ten week stretch. The music was shaped live, in step with ten unannounced DJ appearances across the world from Dublin to Mexico City. Even with a Glastonbury style registration system in place, The Times reported that 100,000 people tried to secure tickets for the opening night in Glasgow.
Appropriately, ‘USB002’ feels alive and constantly in motion, helped along by contributions from close collaborators such as Floating Points and Sammy Virji. The rigid, techno driven pressure of ‘Ambery’ echoes elements of Floating Points’ 2019 album ‘Crush’, while Gibson’s take on ‘The Floor’ builds like the slow climb of a rollercoaster before dropping back to earth without warning.
The guest list stretches beyond the usual dance circles, with two Australian guitar bands popping up in unexpected ways. ‘You’re A Star’ reworks Amyl and The Sniffers’ ‘Big Dreams’ into a breakbeat driven rush, while ‘Hardstyle 2’ pulls the experimental post punk edge of Shady Nasty into an Underworld adjacent space alongside Kettama. Gibson’s real trick is his ability to connect with anyone. These tracks are not reinterpretations but full takeovers.
The visual world wrapped around the ‘USB002’ rollout reinforces the instinct behind the music. Phones were prohibited at shows staged in vast warehouse spaces under sweeping light rigs, while Gibson’s team shared striking black and white footage and created artwork for each single on site. Bottling that sense of urgency, the project is rooted in the thrill of the present moment, something Gibson seems able to summon simply by turning up.
If the ‘Actual Life’ series and ‘Ten Days’ captured passing snapshots of experience, ‘USB’ is defined by constant movement, a space where boundaries are removed entirely. Sitting somewhere between an album and a playlist, ‘USB002’ underlines why Fred Again.. feels so dominant right now, and suggests that his current run may only be the beginning of something much bigger.
