WL//WH Premiere CASSANDRA KIELY
Naarm/Melbourne-based singer, known for her ethereal vocals and experimental approach to music, Cassandra Kiely (Pearls, Ladydreams) has teamed up with producer B. C. Slumber and cellist/composer Prudence Rees-Lee (Popular Music) to re-imagine the wonderful “Come to Me” from Björk’s 1993 first album, “Debut,” via fellow independent label It Records, WL//WH is very pleased to premiere It was recorded to honour the life of Aaron McDonald, who passed away in 2024.
Aaron and Cassandra were close friends who spent many a late night or early morning discussing the finer points of the Cocteau Twins, Guru Josh, and above all, Björk. As such a singular and untouchable artist, any attempt to cover her work is an ambitious move, but Aaron’s love for Björk could not be forgotten or ignored. This project insisted itself into being and we are glad to have this luminous and beautiful rendition.
Very much a collaborative work, Cassandra and B. C. Slumber have crafted a dramatic reinterpretation, vast and haunting. The stability of the backbeat is stripped away, leaving only faint pulses and undulations of electronic signals to guide the way. Prudence Rees-Lee contributes spectral backing vocals and cello. Aaron’s voice can be heard within the track through an incidental recording taken during a kick-on, feeling as though he’s being overheard conversing in the next room: near, but not close enough.
There is a palpable danger in the air, an uneasiness around the edges of perception. Cassandra promises a spiritual protection which cannot be tempered by distance or time. As her verses finish, the electronic ensemble rears up climatically and begins to move. The backbeat returns to dispel the stasis, momentum builds, and soul and memory are given safe passage.
Quite different from the original, a heavy lo-fi veil with Aaron McDonald’s distant voice sways over the top, bringing forth a frustrating sense of disconnection, while Cassandra Kiely’s emotional vocals, less dreamy but more melancholic and achingly distressed than Björk’s, penetrate along with crystal clear angelic back-ups to bring comfort amid skipping off-tempo heart beats and wistful emotional cello swathes.
Cassandra Kiely‘s cover version of Bjork’s 1991 classic “Come to Me,” with a re-mix from B. C. Slumber, is out now, February 21, 2025, through Melbourne’s It Records on all the major streaming platforms.
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