Slovenian industrial music veterans and art provocateurs Laibach have released a cover of Foreigner's classic AOR ballad I Want To Know What Love Is.
True to form, it finds frontman Milan Fras intoning the lyrics in his deep bass voice over an initially sparse but ultimately uplifting synth-driven backing, and climaxes with a live recording of a Laibach audience singing the song's gospel-style chorus.
The release is the third in a series of unlikely cover versions the band have unveiled over the festive period, following similarly improbable versions of Billie Holiday's great protest song Strange Fruit and Bing Crosby's evergreen White Christmas. The band have been performing I Want To Know What Love Is as an encore on their ongoing Opus Dei Revisited tour.
"Listeners curious as to what led this track to be plucked from middle-of-the-road radio, and placed alongside reworked versions from Laibach’s 1987 international breakthrough album Opus Dei, might look for clues in the recent trilogy of releases," advise the band.
"Strange Fruit, another highlight from the current shows, was refracted to examine how tyranny, hatred and murder pervades in human history as well as today. White Christmas examined the vacuum that the joyous holiday can intensify within those ‘without’ and the magnification of loss that it creates.
"Is there a further clue in the name of the band who originally sang I Want To Know What Love is? Perhaps a demand for understanding, empathy and acceptance is not what would be expected from a band known for its challenging and complex treatise. But then again, in the current world there is little that could be more challenging and complex than achieving peace and love."
Well. That's perfectly clear, then.
Opus Dei Revisited was released in December alongside a limited edition John Peel Sessions LP. Laibach's Opus Dei Revisited tour resumes next month, and includes UK shows in London, Manchester, Southampton and Bristol. Full dates below.
Laibach: 2025 Opus Dei Revisited tour dates
Feb 07: Ljubljana Kino Šiška, Slovenia
Feb 08: Ljubljana Kino Šiška, Slovenia
Feb 16: Krakow Kwadrat, Polland
Feb 18: Ostrava Barrak, Czech Republic
Feb 19: Vienna Arena, Austria
Feb 20: Jena F-Haus, Germany
Feb 21: Sittard Poppodium Volt, Netherlands
Feb 22: London Islington Assembly Hall, UK
Feb 23: Manchester Ritz, UK
Feb 24: Southampton The 1865, UK
Feb 25: Bristol Trinity Centre, UK
Feb 27: Lausanne Les Docks, Switzerland
Feb 28: Bologna Link, Italy
Mar 01: Nova Gorica SNG Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Mar 04: Skopje Macedonian Philharmonic, Macedonia
Mar 05: Athens Gazarte, Greece
Mar 06: Sofia Pirotska 5, Bulgaria
Mar 07: Bucharest Quantic Club, Romania
Mar 08: Beograd Dom Omladine, Serbia
Mar 21: Maribor Narodni Dom, Slovenia
