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)

However, rather than taking a standard approach to this very over-generated theme of love and breakups, Hackman has used this as a self-exploration into her own sexuality and well-being. With the release of her first single [I’m Not Where You Are] from this album back in April, the songstress said she thinks people will be “shocked by the language I’m using and how direct I’m being about sex and women,” further explaining, “but we hear lyrics in music all the time that are about fucking women and bitches and all this stuff that’s disempowering for the woman and very much objectifying her. So I’m here writing music about fucking, and it’s in a much more unifying and sexy way.”

This approach has come as a surprise to some of her fans and critics, as Marika is most well-known for her softer, more folky way of writing songs. However, it could be argued here that Hackman had been already planning this new emergence of intimate work dating back to her previous body of music in 2017, “I’m Not Your Man”, where she began opening up lyrically about her queer identity for the first time and hinting at her relationship with musician, Amber Bain [The Japanese House].

Reviews from Pitchfork have claimed that this new album has some “dull moments” that “draw some laughs and eye rolls” based on lyrics that are “less cutting” and perhaps immature or cliche. But, this is definitely an album to be appreciated. Exploring vulnerability, female sexuality, politics and identity in a way that isn’t currently being discussed, alongside some really wonderful, mucky pop sonic worlds – Marika Hackman is coming into her own with this exciting record.

“Any Human Friend” can be purchased here.