Description
In 2020, 4AD turned 40. Never one to be on time for a party, the label is commemorating that landmark this year with the release of Bills & Aches & Blues.
The compilation features 18 of its current artists covering a song of their choosing from 4ADs past: a creative experiment rooted in the spirit of collaboration and a snapshot of 4AD, 41 years after its inception.
Bills & Aches & Blues will be released on double LP and double CD on 23rd July. The first 12 months profits from Bills & Aches & Blues will be donated to The Harmony Project, a Los Angeles-based after-school programme for children from communities and schools that lack equitable access to studying the arts or music.
Bills & Aches & Blues 18 recordings contain fascinating connections between artist and track. The earliest song chosen (by U.S. Girls) is The Birthday Partys Junkyard, from 1981; the most recent are the two Grimes covers (Genesis and Oblivion, respectively by Spencer. and Dry Cleaning) from 2012. Suitably, for the one band that bridges 4AD past and present, The Breeders are all over Bills And Aches And Blues. Theyre covered three times Cannonball by Tune-Yards, Mountain Battles by Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Off You by Big Thief, whilst The Breeders cover The Dirt Eaters by their 90s contemporaries His Name Is Alive.
Landmark songs such as Cannonball, Song To The Siren and Pixies Where is My Mind?, will feel comfortable to casual fans, however by contrast, much joy can be found in the albums surprise choices, such as Air Miamis Seabird and the Lush B-side Sunbathing, covered respectively by new signings Maria Somerville and Jenny Hval.
Bills & Aches & Blues is named, arguably (as Elizabeth Fraser never published the lyrics) after the opening line of Cocteau Twins Cherry-Coloured Funk. Perhaps too unique and uncoverable in their own right, their legendary take on Tim Buckleys Song To The Siren, under the name This Mortal Coil (along with Buckleys pre-Starsailor acoustic version) informs SOHNs cover.
Some tracks unearth hitherto hidden shared DNA, such as Future Islands and Colourboxs The Moon Is Blue; other tracks are more akin to reinvention. Aldous Harding distils the melodic essence of Deerhunters Revival and recasts it in her own uncanny image. U.S. Girls future-disco Junkyard and Bing & Ruths neo-classical instrumental Gigantic are even more radical interpretations. Leading off the album, Tkay Maidza brings both her Art Rap and R&B game, but also an unexpected 80s synth pop template, to Pixies Where Is My Mind?, a perfect title for these chaotic times.
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