Last week, Sharon Van Etten announced a tenth anniversary reissue of her album Epic, which will feature each of the album’s songs covered by a different artist. She shared Big Red Machine’s rendition of “A Crime” at the time alongside a promise that a new cover would be shared every Thursday leading up to the album’s release. Well, today is Thursday, so now we have Idles’ version of “Peace Signs.”
Ahead of its release, the band wrote of their cover, “@sharonvanhalen is one of the greatest songwriters on earth, to be allowed anywhere near her songs is a great and unexpected privilege. We learned a lot about true songwriting by trying to cover ‘Peace Signs.’ We hope it does some justice to the original.” Van Etten reciprocated the admiration in the Instagram comments, responding, “You all were so kind to me when I was missing my family the most on tour. You know the grind. Your spirits lifted me and help me keep going and I will never forget that. Your performances were so inspiring and it means the world you wanted to cover my song. I wish I could do what you do. So much love. X”
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Van Etten also previously said of the covers album, “Epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist — going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.”
Listen to Idles’ cover of “Peace Signs” above.
