Justin Hawkins has reacted to a spectacular cover of The Darkness' 2003 hit I Believe In A Thing Called Love.
The rendition sees Halocene singer Addie Nicole sing the track a whole octave higher than the famously already high-pitched original. On a new episode of his YouTube channel, Justin Hawkins Rides Again, the Darkness frontman rates a selection of "incredible covers" of the song.
The video's caption reads: "My producer has presented me a collection of covers of my song I Believe in a Thing Called Love by The Darkness. I haven't heard these before and I'm going to judge each and decide which is the winner at the end. Please, cast your vote and we shall see who prevails!"
After watching Nicole's performance, seemingly shocked by her ability to reach such high notes, he says: "That's a really impressive vocal. I'd be shocked if that's done live, because, oh my god", before listening to the cover for a second time.
"What a range," Hawkins adds. "This person can sing a Darkness song an octave higher. Normally when I do a cover version I sing it an octave higher. I think that's what we did with the Street Spirit fade out, a Radiohead song that we covered. I was doing that an octave up.
"This is preposterous and brilliant. Okay, so a clear favourite for winner. Amazing".
Other covers within the selection include a performance by Panic! At The Disco, who performed I Believe In A Thing Called Love during a show back in 2012, a "vintage New Orleans-style" jazz cover by Postmodern Jukebox ft. Maiya Sykes, a one-man band cover and more.
Check out the performances below:
Later this year, The Darkness will hit the road for their Permission To Land 20 world tour, in celebration of their debut album's 20th anniversary. On the trek, the glam rock icons will perform the classic 2003 record in full, alongside "all of your favourite Darkness songs from the rest of our illustrious and tipsy turvy career".
View dates for their upcoming tour below:
UK and Ireland Permission To Land tour dates:
Dec 02: Belfast Telegraph Building
Dec 03: Dublin 3Olympia Theatre
Dec 08: Norwich UEA
Dec 09: London The Roundhouse
Dec 11: Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom
Dec 12: Manchester New Century Hall
Dec 14: Bristol Beacon
Dec 15: Nottingham Rock City
Dec 16: Wolverhampton The Wulfrun at The Halls
US tour dates:
Oct 03: San Francisco The Masonic, CA
Oct 04: Sacramento Ace of Spades, CA
Oct 06: Los Angeles The Wiltern, CA
Oct 07: Tempe Marquee Theatre, AZ
Oct 08: Las Vegas Brooklyn Bowl, NV
Oct 10: Denver Summit Music Hall, CO
Oct 11: Kansas City The Truman, MO
Oct 13: Chicago The Vic Theatre, IL
Oct 14: Indianapolis The Vogue, IN
Oct 15: Detroit Saint Andrew’s Hall, MI
Oct 17: Boston Big Night Live, MA
Oct 18: New York Terminal 5, NY
Oct 19: Philadelphia Franklin Music Hall, PA
Oct 21: Sayreville Starland Ballroom, NJ
Oct 22: Washington 9:30 Club
European tour dates:
Nov 07: Berlin Admiralspalast, Germany
Nov 08: Hamburg Markthalle, Germany
Nov 09: Cologne Essigfabrik, Germany
Nov 11: Munich Technikum, Germany
Nov 13: Rome Orion, Italy
Nov 14: Milan Alcatraz, Italy
Nov 15: Modena Vox, Italy
Nov 17: Prattlen Z7, Switzerland
Nov 18: Luxembourg Den Atelier
Nov 20: Bern Muhle Hunziken, Switzerland
Nov 22: Brussels AB, Belguim
Nov 23: Paris La Cigale, France
Nov 24: Amsterdam Melkweg Max, Holland
