Courtney Barnett has shared her version of The Velvet Underground & Nico’s classic 1967 track “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” which appears on the forthcoming I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico album. Executive produced by Hal Willner, who sadly died of COVID-19 last year, the all-star tribute album is out on September 24 and also features contributions from Michael Stipe, Matt Berninger (“I’m Waiting For The Man”), Sharon Van Etten with Angel Olsen, Andrew Bird, Lucius, Kurt Vile & The Violators (“Run Run Run”), St. Vincent and Thomas Bartlett, Thurston Moore, Bobby Gillespie, King Princess, Fontaines D.C., and Iggy Pop and Matt Sweeney (“European Son”).
Reimagining the track in a sing-speak manner, Barnett makes “I’ll Be Your Mirror” her own with crisply plucked, sometimes dissonant acoustic guitar and even-keeled tambourine. “I love them… [The Velvet Underground & Nico],” said Barnett in a press release. “When I listen to ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ and read the lyrics, I realize it’s a perfect song. I can relate to every inch of it. I just felt like I could get inside the world of this song.”
Earlier in the summer, Matt Berninger shared his rendition of “I’m Waiting For The Man,” which he’d previously covered on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon back in December. Kurt Vile also shared his cover of “Run Run Run” in mid-July.
Listen to Courtney Barnett cover “I’ll Be Your Mirror” above. I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico is out 9/24 via Verve Records. Pre-order it here.
