Donner, the latest project from White Willow/The Opium Cartel's Jacob Holm-Lupo, have released their own version of Steely Dan's Night By Night. The single is the only vocal track on the upcoming electronic album, Hesitant Light, which is due out this autumn via Apollon Records.
The track includes Marte Eberson (Highasakite, Eberson) on vocals and Hedvig Mollestad on guitar, in addition to Steely Dan members Keith Carlock on drums and guitarist Georg Wadenius.
Says Holm-Lupo, "I've been a Steely Dan fan since I was introduced to the band by my guitar teacher when I was in my teens. And Night By Night has always been a favourite; catchy, a little scary, and full of harmonic cleverness."
But don't expect a note-by-note replication of the original. "Whenever I do a cover I try to not play to the strengths of the original, but rather find some new angle that hasn't been explored," adds Holm-Lupo. "Here I wanted to convey the urban angst of the original tune through new sounds, more of a Bladerunner-esque synthscape.
"Also, me and drummer Keith Carlock decided to replace the jazz-rock groove of the original with a more propulsive four-on-the-floor beat. Marte Eberson's vocals focuses on the melodic qualities of the song, while Hedvig brings all the menace of the mean streets in her squealing guitar solo. I provide the synths, all hardware 70s and 80s stuff including Oberheims and a Yamaha DX7."
Stream Donner's version of Night By Night below.
