If you are going to choose to cover a song, especially one by a band known for having such a signature sound, you really need to be bringing something interesting to project. Otherwise what is the point? The Pull of Autumn really understands this and this cover of The Bee Gees’ Holiday has so many unique qualities, it is difficult to know just where to start.
Let’s start with a few questions of my own shall we? That’s not one of them, I haven’t started yet. Here we go.
What would post-rock have sounded like had it evolved in the 60’s rather than a few decades later? What if bands such as The Bee Gees had grown up with the sort of synthesisers and studio technology which we find readily available to most musicians today? Is it possible to make a record which stays true to the low-fi nature of pop past yet embraces a sonic palette lush and luxurious enough to keep the modern pop picker happy? The answer to all of those questions is answered by giving this new version of Holiday a spin.
With Orange Cake Mix (a.k.a James Rao) helping out, this new record is a tribute rather than a pastiche, a sonic love letter to a time and a sound rather than a creative raid hell-bent on musical plundering. It is an alternative exploration of the song rather than merely a chance to ride existing coat tails or rest on someone else’s laurels.
If you are going delve into someone else’s creative space you should really take the time to fully explore the space. Stay too faithful to the original and you might as well be a rigid tribute band, little more than a theatre act or side-show attraction in the grand scheme of things. But do what The Pull of Autumn does here, really get to the heart of the song, embrace the spirit of the times, approach the music with fresh ears and evolved technologies, question everything, be adventurous, take risks…have fun even, do all of that and you will have really added something special to the musical canon.
