Last month, the band announced their plans to re-issue every single one of their past studio albums (nine in total) as a Companion series, with some additional recordings taken from their sessions at ARC Studios in Omaha, Nebrasksa. The forthcoming project will be accompanied by a release of a Companion E.P. consisting of five new recording of songs, as well as a cover version of an artist that they found to be inspiring at the time of the original recording.

Bright Eyes originally took its genesis as a moniker for then 15-year old Conor Oberst’s work with producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis. In 2006, composer and arranger Nathaniel Walcott became an official member of the band, as well as Mogis. Bright Eyes’ influence on indie music and music in general cannot be understated, as their work has been covered by the likes of Lorde, The Killers, Mac Miller, Phoebe Bridgers, Snow Patrol and beabadoobee.

The band was originally active until 2011, announcing a hiatus in November of that year, after which Walcott, Oberst and Mogis pursued other projects. The band returned in 2020, perhaps at an ill-fated time due to the then impending COVID-19 pandemic, however this did not stop them from rolling out new music, beginning with the single “Persona Non Grata”, their first single in nine years, and later on in August of that year, they released their newest album Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once Was. The album can be found on all streaming services, and you can listen to “Miracle of Life” featuring Phoebe Bridgers down below.

The dates for Bright Eyes’ upcoming UK shows can be seen down below.

30/08/2022- Eventim Apollo- London
31/08- O2 Apollo- Manchester
01/09- Vicar Street- Dublin
05/09- O2 Institute- Birmingham
06/09- Barrowland- Glasgow

i chose a bunch of my favourite songs and made a tasty little covers album during lockdown and boy am i thrilled for you all to hear it. listen to Realiti and preorder the record at https://t.co/YghwWtKCIk (1/2) pic.twitter.com/gFxplRph69

— Marika Hackman (@MarikaHackman) September 15, 2020

Covers follows 2019’s Any Human Friend, which was widely received as some of Hackman’s best, most honest and self-proclaimed “unifying and sexy” work. Covers will likely allow Hackman to experiment musically and to pour herself into an album while at the same time taking a step back from the light that she shone on herself and her own experiences throughout Any Human Friend.

In addition to the announcement, Hackman shared one of the ten covers: a version of Grimes’ critically acclaimed ‘Realiti’. If this is a sign of what’s to come on Covers, then we should all be getting quite excited! You can listen to it below.

Hackman’s ‘Realiti’ is completely stripped back. The video that she shared sets her vocals against the visual of a car driving along a motorway at night, which produces the most distinctive feeling. Where Grimes’ original makes its mark with layers of electronic beats and synths, the power of Hackman’s version is all in her melodic, melancholic voice.

In addition to an album announcement and a song preview, Hackman has promised a live stream with her entire band on the release date. She will perform in an empty swimming pool. Tickets are available with an album pre-order, all of which can be found here. Alongside your ticket and album, Hackman instructs you to “bring your armbands.”

Speaking about the concept of the album, Hackman said, “when it comes to covers I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while. It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it.” An album dedicated to covers is a great place to really play with music and style, and it seems like this is exactly Hackman’s goal.

She has chosen to take on some major and distinctive artists, but I think we can expect to hear Beyonce like we’ve never heard her before in Hackman’s newest venture. Likewise, there are few other places that you might hear Grimes and Elliott Smith compliment one another – all in all, it points to a carefully thought out tracklist. It might be two months until anyone can get their hands on it, but already this project feels special.

Tracklist:

1. You Never Wash Up After Yourself (Radiohead)
2. Phantom Limb (The Shins)
3. Playground Love (Air)
4. Realiti (Grimes)
5. Jupiter 4 (Sharon van Etten)
6. Pink Light (MUNA)
7. Between The Bars (Elliott Smith)
8. Temporary Loan (Edith Frost)
9. In Undertow (Alvvays)
10. All Night (Beyonce)

Adding to the list of talented souls whose lives were cut short, Jeff Buckley and Kurt Cobain alike, Elliott Smith rose to underground notoriety in the nineties beginning with his band ‘Heatmiser’ and moving on to produce five albums, with two posthumous albums ‘From a Basement in the Hill’ and ‘New Moon’ released after his death.

Today Elliott Smith is known amongst a devoted following of fans, but is certainly one of the musical icons whose prolific ability to effortlessly write captivating music has been overlooked. This new movie hopes to convey Elliott in a real light, using intimate footage captured by close friends and family of the troubled musician, as well as being produced by one of his school friends Kevin Moyer.

The website for the movie states that ‘Heaven Adores You’ is an “intimate, meditative inquiry into the life and music of Elliott Smith (1969-2003)….It presents a visual journey and an earnest review of the singer’s prolific songwriting and the impact it continues to have on fans, friends and fellow musicians.’

The movie will also include up to 20 songs that will be unheard by Smith’s fans so far.

Elliott Smith tragically died of a suspected suicide in 2003 after reports of a growing paranoia having believed a white van was following him wherever he went, leading friends to believe he had resorted to drug use. This movie aims to capture the tragic, but yet shinning star that was Elliott Smith and how a man with grubby hair who hadn’t sold millions of records managed to entrance a whole following of fans, and influence fellow and future muscians.

The first four minutes can be watched below,

For more information visit the official website here.