Minnie Driver releases her third album, “Ask Me To Dance,” on Oct. 7.
The Rounder/Zoe release, Driver”s first since 2007″s “Seastories,” is a carefully curated selection of covers, including The Cure”s “Close To Me,” Neil Young”s “Tell Me Why,” Stevie Wonder”s “Master Blaster,” the Killers' “Human,” Neil Finn”s “Better Be Home Soon,” and even going back to the Sinatra standard, “Fly Me To The Moon.”
A few weeks ago, HitFix premiered a snippet of Driver singing the late Elliott Smith”s “Waltz No. 2.” Today, we have the world premiere of Driver singing The Cure”s “Close To Me,” a song very close to her heart.
“So when I was a girl, the only songs I would get asked to dance to were the faster ones and that was always The Cure songs,” Driver says. We wonder if she”s recalling her teen years or those of her lovely character in “Circle of Friends?” “‘Close To Me” was one of the happiest songs I remember from my early teens.”
Driver knew she had to do something different with the song than her best Robert Smith imitation. Instead, she does a sweet, slightly lounge-y version. In fact it”s slow enough for someone to dance to.. if they get asked. Below the video is the full audio of the song.