I’ve long been fascinated by cover versions, perhaps even before I know what they were. One of the first albums I ever owned was Siouxsie and the Banshees‘ Through The Looking Glass, with its covers of The Doors, Bob Dylan and Iggy Pop. (While I can’t say that from that moment on I abandoned the pop music of the day and went down a darker path, it would happen soon enough). Austrian Anja Plaschg alias Soap&Skin has recorded a number of cover versions over the years; when the Donau-Festival invited her in 2022 to perform all the cover songs she had composed over the years, she came up with the idea of a permanent collection – and so we have the 11-track Torso (twelve on digital, with its exclusive cover of Lana Del Rey‘s ‘Gods & Monsters‘).
Cover versions, and therefore, by extension, covers albums tread a delicate path. My personal view is that they should follow one of two paths: pay a simple, faithful, straightforward version or make it a radically different one. (Preferably not with an excessively fey voice and a ukelele as if desperately convinced that the path to stardom is soundtracking a John Lewis Christmas ad). So here Soap&Skin cover a dozen songs by legendary songwriters, one popularised by Shirley Bassey and, erm, 4 Non Blondes. These are stripped down, mostly piano and voice, with some lovely instrumentation along the way.
The album opens strongly with a lovely version of Sufjan Stevens‘ ‘Mystery Of Love‘ which originally appeared on the soundtrack to Call Me By Your Name. Other highlights include a take on the Velvet Underground‘s ‘Pale Blue Eyes‘ and, perhaps surprisingly, a Shirley Bassey-popularised song ‘Born To Lose.’ Not the Johnny Thunders one, but it’s curiously affecting. Another reason it sounds familiar to some (alright then, me) is because a little bit of internet research shows it is the same tune as Acker Bilk‘s ‘Aria‘. Also well worth hearing is her take on Tom Waits‘ ‘Johnsburg, Illinois‘ and David Bowie’s ‘Girl Loves Me.’
However, there are some where the album falls rather short – her version of The Doors‘ ‘The End‘ which is a tough ask for any artist to take on this absolute bohemoth of a song falls rather short (if you want a passable cover, it’s worth checking out Nico‘s version on the album of the same name from 1974). Also, 4 Non Blondes‘ ‘What’s Up‘ was a frankly awful song to begin with, and Ms. Plaschg, while undoubtedly talented, is unable to polish this into anything that’s worth treasuring (though nowhere near as bad as a dance version that did the rounds thirty years ago). The other aspect is that this is quite a bleak album, which can make listening to it in one go leave you feeling rather bleak.
Some great versions, and some not so great versions, then. There’s much worth hearing on here – but it’s probably best explored in small doses rather than in one sitting.
