Not much makes my heart happier than seeing ELO get long-overdue recognition – rather than ridicule – for its contributions to the pop culture pantheon. At this point, I’m just as happy to digest a new reinterpretation of ELO’s classics as I am to contemplate anything new Jeff Lynne cares to throw our way. And if the reinterpretations are crafted with the same kind of love as Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO, all the better. If you follow her work at all, you know she alternates between albums of original material and albums of covers and tributes to a particular artist or band she considers formative to her own musical experience (with past tributes including albums of covers of Olivia Newton-John and the Police).
Here, obviously, she’s concentrating on ELO’s past works, picking something from each album from On The Third Day through Secret Messages. (A two-song single, released separately on Bandcamp, adds the under-appreciated “I’m Alive” from the Xanadu soundtrack and a cover of “When I Was A Boy” from Alone In The Universe for good measure.) Though a few of the covers obligingly roll out some of the big hits in the band’s catalogue – “Showdown”, “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head”, “Strange Magic”, “Telephone Line”, and “Don’t Bring Me Down” – I really appreciate Hatfield’s commitment to shining a fresh light on some underappreciated deep cuts. The songs that were originally piano and/or guitar based translate easily, if slightly stripped-down from the more ornate original versions.
But it’s the songs that didn’t start out piano or guitar based that turn out to be the most fascinating listens. “From The End Of The World”, from 1981’s Time album, is almost the least likely candidate for this treatment, as it was originally a solid wall of synthesizers. Now it’s a straight-ahead rocker. Ordinary Dream, from 2001’s also-underappreciated comeback album Zoom, goes from a wall of strings to a gentle rock number with gorgeous harmonies. My favorite thing on the album may be the cover of 1983’s “Secret Messages”, another song whose original version was awash in synths and keyboards, ably translated with its sinewy vocal harmonies completely intact. “Telephone Line” replaces string arrangements with some interesting layers of guitar work. None of the songs suffer or lose anything in the translation.
Hatfield’s liner notes indicate that she wasn’t looking to reinvent the wheel (if you’re wanting radical reinventions, Parthenon Huxley’s Homemade Spaceship is still out there), making significant changes where necessary: sometimes the string section’s parts were played by other instruments or even sung, as she had neither the interest nor the budget to record an orchestra and basically make an ELO karaoke album. What she did deliver, however, was an interesting mix of songs given new life, ready to be enjoyed in this new form, and maybe good for guiding the curious toward the originals. But on its own, Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO is a great listen.
- Sweet Is The Night (3:30)
- Can’t Get It Out Of My Head (4:18)
- Showdown (3:31)
- Strange Magic (3:56)
- Don’t Bring Me Down (3:59)
- Telephone Line (4:44)
- Secret Messages (3:59)
- Bluebird Is Dead (4:24)
- From The End Of The World (3:14)
- Ordinary Dream (3:25)
Released by: American Laundromat Records
Release date: November 17, 2023
Total running time: 39:00
