Kate Rusby – Hand Me Down
Pure Records – 14 August 2020
Kate Rusby has twice been on Jo Whiley’s radio show, where the show’s format meant she performed a cover song alongside her new material. It was after one such show, on which she played Oasis’ “Don’t Go Away” that she realised that “not just the very old songs are handed down through the generations, but also favourite songs of any age, of any generation” and so they are all up for re-interpretation. ‘Don’t Go Away’ featured on her well-received last album, Philosophers, Poets and Kings, and also went on to become a tour favourite with audiences, which in turn led to her decision to release a complete covers album, where that folk spirit of re-interpreting songs could come to the fore with more contemporary material.
Once you have decided to re-interpret a song, the question becomes, “How?” It’s not even easy for a musician to re-structure their own song, let alone someone else’s. When Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett released Genesis Revisited, which included new approaches to his own songs, it received a very mixed reaction, whereas all his many subsequent true-to-the-originals have been given ecstatic adulation.
The consensus must lie with the make-it-fresh approach, though. There is little point in re-creating what already exists, when the original is, well, the original. Why re-paint the Mona Lisa as the da Vinci version, when he made such a good job of it in the first place?
This is where Rusby comes into her own. Maybe due to the unhurried pace of life in lockdown, or maybe just her style, she has slowed some of these songs right down. So the pace of lead single “Manic Monday” is more suited to a lazy Sunday afternoon. Do I care? Not a bit. Her dreamy voice, quite possibly the silkiest in Yorkshire, carries it all the way. She also adds an instrumental break that sets it apart from the original, featuring Damien O’Kane’s guitar, paired with Duncan Lyall’s magnificent bass Moog. I’m not usually a fan of musicians involving their kids on musical projects but watching the accompanying video, you’d have to be cold as Pluto to not find the kids’ backing vocals utterly charming… O’Kane is dressed for the part too.
Similarly, the Cure’s insistent jangly guitar on “Friday, I’m in Love” is changed into a more ambient, shoegaze approach. The Kinks’ “Days” is completely unlike both the original and Kirsty MacColl’s signature version for the next generation. O’Kane and Lyall have created a semi-funky chassis for it to ride on that takes a bit of getting used to, but it works.
The slower-paced numbers work well as standalone tracks, and while I appreciate it is down to personal taste, overall, I would have liked a more uptempo album. Songs like James Taylor’s “Carolina on my Mind,” Coldplay’s “Everglow” and Lyle Lovett’s “If I Had a Boat” sway the balance of the album to a more mid-tempo feel.
The good news is that there is plenty of quality material here. As well as those mentioned earlier, she sings Nicky Thomas’s “Love of the Common People” over a chunky rhythm, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” and Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colours.”
One oddity of this set is the way that she has taken two rare theme tunes and made proper songs of them. So – again, slowing it right down – she takes the essential 90-odd seconds of “The Littlest Hobo” theme and makes it last three times longer. “Connie” is the other theme.
The absolute highlight, and a true must-listen, is Taylor Swift’s addictive “Shake it Off,” lit up by lashings of rhythmic banjo and underpinned again by that Moog bass. It’s one of the songs of the year for me, its pleasure lingering in the brain long after the album has finished. Does it beat the original? You bet.
Despite my wish for a couple of more livelier numbers, on ‘Hand Me Down’, Kate Rusby highlights how precious all music can be and delivers a truly individual set of covers that complements the originals beautifully.
Hand Me Down is Out Now on Pure Records
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Photo Credit: David Angel