Over the last couple of years as musicians around the world struggled to cope social media became even more important, the need to perform and stay connected to fans gave very few outlets. Covers became very important. While a lot of composition went on and new music was produced it was very hard and much slower. New music became a much more an additive process as ping times began to play a role. Technology was wonderful and allowed much, but the multiplying effect that having the instruments together hurt more than people realize. Prince could play every instrument he needed, but he worked the house band hard in the creative process. The interplay is just very important. Covers provide a solid backbone to work off of and makes the additive nature of internet creation much easier.
For this little demonstration I chose two of the tougher cases to highlight some things. Simone Simons and Floor Jansen are contemporaries, two of the best sopranos within Metal, both moms with young children and European whose patchwork restrictions on travel really made in person creation extra difficult.
Simone was exactly the right age for Ariel and The Little Mermaid to make a lasting and formative impression. She was separated from her band and her young son probably wasn’t clamoring for a Disney cover, so this is a pretty straight up cover.
Floor on the other hand does have a young daughter of exactly the right age to make Frozen important. While separated from her band she is connected to her drummer husband’s band and that bands guitarist/music studio owner is also right there. So you can see a much more rock based take.
Floor’s appearance on a Dutch show had her poised for a major crossover breakout. That weekly series highlighted her astonishing voice, presence and skill. Indeed her cover of Shallow put her and Lady Gaga’s versions at the top of the charts (views and download) in the Netherlands. Unfortunately this happened in late 2019, that not only delayed her bands record release and tour, it stopped a planned series of concerts of her own. So while waiting to get back on the road and release her own side project material, she has been releasing as many covers as possible to maintain at least some momentum.
So this cover later in the process shows even higher production and a much more polished approach. It will be very interesting to see her album later this month. Interesting enough she has just done the German version of that Dutch show and it will be aired soon after.