Unless the mariachi break was trumpeted from Mars or 2Pac and Biggie got resurrected for a verse, trumping the neck breaking, hip shaking swagger of Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” is damn near impossible. Let’s call it now, the song is power pop perfection and six years on it’s still the party jam of the new millennium standing triumphantly atop the carcasses of Single Ladies and broken Umbrellas and shutter shades.
That’s not to say we’re outlawing “Crazy In Love” covers because we find the below Antony And The Johnsons rejig oddly compelling in a morose “glass half empty” kinda way, we’re just advising against straight pop covers. That my friend, is an exercise in futility.
Because he’s smart like that Antony Hegarty opts for the downbeat route in his ghostly reinterpretation of Crazy In Love with it’s somber orchestration, palpable yearning and that voice. Unsurprisingly the song takes on a schizophrenic hue and plays out like the desperate ballad of a deranged stalker or more simply Hegarty’s cut is a little more “Crazy” and a little less “Love”.
Via Pitchfork
Image by: Ian Gavan via Getty
