Aftertouch

Sealed brand new red vinyl limited edition No 144 / 300 album from this NZ songstress

Sometimes the less is more approach can work,  especially if the original has a more complicated and busy arrangement. Come As You Are (Nirvana and every teenage busker ever) and Can’t Help Falling In Love (Elvis or 21 Pilots depending on your age) are both very familiar but shimmer nicely in the icy chill of the accompaniment and vocal. Even better if a song is a bit more obscure then hey, as far as the listener is concerned it’s yours.

The works of The Reduction Agents, Disaster Radio and Craft Spells may be not as well known in your household as say The Beatles,  Nirvana, or Lucinda Williams. This means the electronic bleeps of Aftertouch, brittle piano of  Cold Glass Tube and soaring After The Moment could easily be mistaken for Princess Chelsea originals. In the case of Disaster Radio’s song Aftertouch it remains previously unreleased by the original band.
Of the remaining songs, the glockenspeil, bubbling bass and arpeggio keyboard on And I Love Her reach for Everest… and succeed (to my ears) in giving a fresh sound to a Beatles song. I also thought I never needed to hear Lucinda Williams’ Side of The Road again but it turns out the breathy vocal delivery and space walk accompaniment left me with that .. “I know this song.. but what is it?” reaction which got me all excited about it all over again.

You have a great collection of songs given the Princess Chelsea treatment. These reinterpretations surprised, intrigued and excited me. Cold Glass Tube and Aftertouch especially would sit nicely on any of her previous releases and I cant wait to see if some of these show up at her bunch of live appearances.