COVERS FROM AWAY – Various Artists (Craft Recordings/Concord Theatricals – digital download)
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I LOVE this album. There, that’s the review in a nutshell!
Songs from the mega-hit musical Come From Away have been reinterpreted by Newfoundland and Labrador bands and artists who actually inspired the writers to use their sound in the musical. Of course, Come From Away doesn’t have many ‘stand-alone’ numbers so David Hein and Irene Sankoff (the writers of the musical) collaborated with the artists to dig into the original songs along with numbers that had been cut to create something new and exciting. They also collaborated in some new songs written especially for this album.
What they have achieved is something really wonderful. I have had this album on repeat for days. The artists involved are fantastic and they bring a fresh sound to these numbers. I really can’t praise the album enough – my thesaurus is worn out looking through it for synonyms of ‘superlative’.
Tracks included are: ‘Welcome to the Rock’, ‘I am Here’, ‘Wherever We Are’, ‘Heave Away’, ‘Stop the World’, ‘Costume Party’, ‘Lead Us Out of the Darkness’, ‘Screech In’, ‘Me and the Sky’, ‘Prayer of St Francis/Mi’kmaq Honor Song’, ‘Blankets and Bedding’, ‘Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere’, ‘Screech Out’ and ‘Themes from Come From Away’.
Artists: The Navigators, Rosemary Lawton, The Punters, Alan Doyle, The Once, Rachael Cousins and Abigail, Silver Wolf Band, Shanneyganock, Damhnait Doyle, Jason Benoit, The Irish Descendants, Sherman Downey, The Dardanelles, Ofra Harnoy, Mike Herriott and Bob Hallett.
Many of these artists have albums of their own and I have spent many a happy hour finding out about them and listening to their music on the internet. I would advise you to do the same. Once you have purchased this album then start doing the same for these amazing artists.
Nick Wakeham
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