South London singer-songwriter Tom Misch released a great album last year in collaboration with Yussef Dayes called What Kinda Music—his first major release since 2018’s Geography. Today he’s returned with the first new music of this year in the form of classic covers spanning several decades and a few new originals. “I’ve always been able to make feel good music regardless of whether I’m feeling good” said Misch in a press release. “Perhaps that’s set me in good stead for where we are now.”
He reimagines James Blake’s “The Whilhelm Scream,” Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky,” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and Crystal Waters’ “Gypsy Woman.” For the final cover, “Parabéns,” he worked with the originator, Brazilian jazz and bossa nova legend Marco Valle. The three new tracks from Misch are the opener “Chain Reaction,” then “For Carol” featuring Tobie Tripp, and closer “Missing You.” Misch also commissioned artist Oliver Macdonald Oulds “to create a hand painted version of one of the scenes from the sessions (‘Cranes in the Sky’) for the album artwork.”
No matter if Misch is taking on a grunge classic from the ’90s or a career-defining work from the 2010s, either soulful or slow-building in suspense, his instrumental compositions are gentle reinventions.
Hear the project below.
