Julia Jacklin Covers Rowland S. Howard
Photo by Derek Henderson I have to admit that I'm not at all familiar with Rowland S. Howard or his song "Shivers." Released as a single for Howard and Nick Cave's band The Boys Next Door, fellow Julia Jacklin recorded a version for a tribute to Australian producer Tony Cohen. Jacklin's version stays quite faithful to the original, just maybe not quite as dark. (At least as not dark as a song can be when the opening line is "I've been contemplating suicide.") It's still a sparse song that is kind of like a post-punk singer/songwriter track, but Jacklin's vocals seem to elevate the song. Is it even possible for any song not to benefit from her voice? It's a powerful song made even more compelling by Jacklin. Julia Jacklin says of the song: “It’s been covered a lot, but it’s a special one for me. It was one of the first songs I ever learnt to play. Many Sydney bars, venues and open mic nights have heard me sing this song. Howard wrote it at...