Owenshire: Electron Blue [R.E.M. cover]

Artist: Owenshire
Track: Electron Blue [R.E.M. cover]
Album: Remember Every Moment (2017)
Credits: Clive Butler (all instruments); Robert Muhlbock (all vocals).
Notes: more than what's in front of you.

Commentary:

Clive: With Electron Blue I've done a full on cover of the live version of the song. The album version is far too "spacey" for my liking. And, since I was going for a more raw sound with this, I had some fun adding layers of experimental guitar noises and feedback. I actually use a kitchen knife on the guitar strings at one point to achieve the sound I'm after.

Electron Blue was one of those songs I wasn't keen on when I first bought Around The Sun but it has grown on me over the years and I now consider it to be one of the more successful of their genre-experiment songs.

Rob: By all accounts Electron Blue should win the award for REM’s “Most Embarrassing Song” right up there with “I’ve Been High” and “Shiny Happy People.” I mean, out of the three, I’d say it’s the most UN-REM song of the bunch. Hear me out. At least “Leaving New York” begins with a characteristic melancholic Rickenbacker riff, but Electron Blue is synth pop bliss at its most unabashed and nauseating, punctuated by echoed vocals and a basic piano lick (as well as other ambient sounds).

Okay, okay, so why cover it? Well, here’s the thing: no matter how cheesy the lyrics and how uncharacteristic the instrumental, what saves this song (as always) is Michael Stipe’s voice. And the chord change into the song’s chorus doesn’t hurt either. So yeah, while I don’t hate Electron Blue (in fact it’s often one of my favourite songs on Around The Sun, believe it or not) I very much consider it a (somewhat shameful) guilty pleasure. Listening to this song is like eating an entire Terry’s Chocolate Orange in one sitting: you know you shouldn’t, you know it’s too much—but damn is it tasty. So why stop yourself? After all, no one’s any the wiser….