As we’re staring down the end of a very big year, and the end of a decade, it simply wouldn’t be 2019 without a Like A Version from arguably the country’s biggest artist right now. Yep, that’s right, Tones And I stepped into the Triple J studios for this week’s cover session to take a red-hot run at ‘Forever Young’.
[jwplayer oTUtyuBC]
After a mammoth year for the Melbourne-born busker-turned-chart topper where she first showed up in our collective consciousness around February with ‘Johnny Run Away’, Tones And I has now gone on to have a clean sweep of #1s across the world with ‘Dance Monkey’.
Her take on the classic track, originally by German group Alphaville back in 1984 and made popular again by Sydney’s Youth Group back in 2006 for The O.C., sees Tones And I backed by a full band with a horn section, and accompanied by a whole five-piece backing vocals group and Melbourne MC, Jordan Dennis.
The collective turns the 80s new wave track (and 00s indie essential) into a journey of a rendition that goes from a soulful groove to gloriously upbeat, horn-driven, banger that won’t sound out of place on summer playlists.
Jordan Dennis spits some very quick bars on the break before Tones steps back in with her unmistakable vocals to pull everything back down into a stripped-back bridge, and if this is the way we’re sending off 2019, I’m pretty OK with it tbh.
Whether the choice of ‘Forever Young’ is a shady dig at all the conspiracy theorists who can’t figure out whether Tones is 19 or 26 remains to be seen but God I want that to be true so damn bad. SO damn bad.
Check out Tones And I and her collective of incredibly-talented mates take ‘Forever Young’ back to its earworm status with this intricate and terribly fun cover below.
