I don’t know why, but I always feel a pang of embarrassment when I’m presented with the task of reviewing a cover of a song I don’t know. Perhaps it’s because I hate having such gaps in my musical knowledge. Or, perhaps, it’s because I feel ill equipped to pass comment when I’ve no real framework of comparison by which to judge whether it’s an improvement on the original or out and out sacrilege. So it is with Richard Walters’ new single, which is a cover of a song by Daniel Johnston.
So, to take it on its own merits, it’s a gentle, melodic tune that’s delivered with sincerity and a sensitive, nuanced approach to arrangement and production. On these levels, I can’t fault it, or Walters, who has an eminently listenable voice. On the downside, the fact that Walters ‘resolutely refuses to “rock out”’ results in a delivery that feels a little too controlled, and I’m left feeling rather untouched by the whole thing. Nice, but unexciting.
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