Friday, November 16, 2018

Mercury Rev and Margo Price Cover Bobbie Gentry

Photo by Ken Sears
Green River Festival 2016
Mercury Rev are probably not the most obvious choice to release a full album of Bobbie Gentry covers. Psychedelic indie rock and the classic 60's and 70's country star may seem like an odd pairing, but if their version of "Sermon" is any indication, this could be an early candidate for Album of the Year. The Delta Sweete Revisited (covering the entirety of 1968's concept album The Delta Sweete) has Mercury Rev pairing with a different singer for each song. For "Sermon," they join with Gentry superfan Margo Price. The result is near perfection. Mercury Rev fills the song with a shoegaze level of backing fuzz mixed with rhinestone country while Price's vocals soar above the whole mixture. It's somehow very fitting to the original while completely re-imagining the song. 

You can listen to Mercury Rev and Margo Price's cover of "Sermon" below. The Delta Sweete Revisited will be out February 8 on Partisan/Bella Union. The album will also feature collaborations with Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams, Hope Sandoval, Beth Orton, Lætitia Sadier of Stereolab, and more. You can pre-order the album here.

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