Earlier this month, Angel Olsen announced her Aisles EP, which contains a handful of ’80s covers. Now, she has shared her spin on one of the decade’s defining songs: “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats. As opposed to the jaunty original, Olsen’s rendition of the song slows down the tempo and gives it more of a dark post-punk/new wave feel.
Olsen says of the cover, “I felt this song could be reinterpreted to be about the time of quarantine and the fear of being around anyone or having too much fun. It made me wonder, is it safe to laugh or dance or be free of it all for just a moment?”
She also previously said of the project more broadly, “I know it’s not really in my history to do something unintentional or just for the hell of it, but my connection to these songs is pretty straightforward, I just wanted to have a little fun and be a little more spontaneous, and I think I needed to remember that I could!”
Listen to Olsen’s cover of “Safety Dance” above and revisit Men Without Hats’ original version of the song below.
Aisles is out 8/20 via somethingscosmic. Pre-order it here.
