- 2024-07-10
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MUSIC
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MF Tomlinson Covers Big Thief's “Mary”
London-based singer-songwriter MF Tomlinson released a cover of American indie folk band Big Thief's “Mary” on July 9, 2024.
The original version of the song was released by Big Thief from their second studio album “Capacity” in 2017.
The track was written by Adrianne Lenker. The cover version was produced by Michael Tomlinson.
MF Tomlinson said of the song, “Since the first moment I heard 'Mary' I have wanted to make this piece. Over the past year the MFs and I have been recording a new body of work and recording Mary has been a key part of the discovery of what that album is - from its themes of memory and emotional impetus to the production style and sonic landscape we've been engaging with.”- He continued, “I first heard Big Thief's Mary whilst on tour with Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Late night driving, hyperfocused on the road appearing and disappearing in the narrow headlights, I was swallowed up by the quiet and immense power of the piece - an enormous turning wheel of emotion that summons your earliest and most fundamental places. It just felt fucking huge and at the same time incredibly close and tender. That feeling never left me, and so here we are with this recording.”
He recalled, "burning need to create an arrangement that was as big as it made me feel the first time I heard it. I felt it was echoing in a vast and unreal space, the belly of the whale, like being thrown around, carried away - set free, like smashing yourself apart with a sledgehammer.” -
MF Tomlinson shared on social media, "It's our take on Mary by Big Thief. My reel, these days a big part of getting the word out is making low rent vids (now with captions) but don't be fooled - this was a real labour of love made with the utmost sincerity. More about how it came to be very soon.”
Photo by Andrea Zvadova
Background photo by Yuko Nabeta - source : Apple Music
