Fiona Apple has covered Sharon Van Etten‘s track “Love More” for Van Etten’s anniversary edition of her 2010 album Epic. Apple’s version of the tune brings in more percussion but stays fairly true to the original.
Van Etten previously teased the cover on Twitter, writing, “‘Love More’ is the last track from Epic, and I’m so honored to have Fiona Apple’s version of it coming out this Thursday.”
Epic, Van Etten’s debut album, will get a special anniversary release, Epic Ten, on April 16th. It contains the original 2010 record, as well as the tracks covered by Courtney Barnett, Vagabon, Shamir, Big Red Machine, and Lucinda Williams. The musician has shared several covers so far, including “Don’t Do It,” by Barnett and Vagabon, and “Save Yourself,” by Williams.
“Epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist,” Van Etten said of the release. “Going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.”
On April 16th and 17th, Van Etten will release a documentary on the making of the album, combined with a virtual concert where she’ll perform the LP in full with her band at Zebulon in Los Angeles. Proceeds will benefit the venue; tickets can be found here.
LIVE REVIEWS
Pixies have unveiled four previously unheard tracks, all written during the period when the band were putting together ‘Bossanova’ and ‘Trompe le Monde’.
The four recordings come from between 1987 and 1991 and are now available across all digital streaming services for the first time. They originally appeared as two bonus 7” singles included with the limited-edition remastered pressings of ‘Bossanova’ and ‘Trompe le Monde’.
Among the tracks is the Steve Albini version of ‘Dig For Fire’, recorded in late 1987 while the band were working on ‘Surfer Rosa’. The song was later reworked before appearing on ‘Bossanova’ almost three years later.
The collection also features ‘Punk Loop’, an unreleased jam recorded during the 1991 sessions for ‘Trompe le Monde’ and originally labelled ‘Punk Loop’ MSTR. Another addition is ‘Brackish Boy’, a track first written with Pixies before being rerecorded by Black Francis for his self-titled solo debut in 1993. The newly released version was mastered directly from the original album session tape, without any additional post-production.
The fourth track is ‘Go Man Go’, written by Black Francis and Kim Deal while the band were recording ‘Bossanova’ and The Breeders were working on ‘Last Splash’. The song did not make the final tracklist of either album, although The Breeders performed it live on a few occasions in the years that followed.
The track made another appearance in 2023 when The Breeders included it in the 30th anniversary reissue of ‘Last Splash’.
Pixies have marked their 40th anniversary throughout this year, including a UK and European tour over the summer. During a conversation with NME at Mad Cool Festival earlier this year, guitarist Joey Santiago revealed that the band were still making progress on new material.
“We’re always in the works. Same formula,” he said. “We have a break coming up in October and we’re gonna get together and piece more songs together.”
The band's latest studio release is 2024’s ‘The Night The Zombies Came’, which marked their first album featuring bassist Emma Richardson. They are also scheduled to tour the US with Queens Of The Stone Age in 2027 as part of the upcoming tour.
