Nadja - When I See the Sun it Always Shines on TV

Cover albums can either be a thrilling exploration into a band’s influences, as they twist and absorb them into their own songbook, or dreadful last-ditch attempts to generate a few sales. Black ambient doom drone duo Nadja have been whipping up a sonic maelstrom for just over five years now, perhaps a little early in a career for a covers LP; but who could resist buzzsaw drone versions of tunes from A-Ha, Elliott Smith, The Cure, and the Kids in the Hall soundtrack? Well, certainly not Nadja. And the results are majestic, retaining all of the seismic shifting heaviness you would expect from the group, bending the pop and the not-so-pop songs into something both reverent and playfully grotesque. The jump to Swans, My Bloody Valentine and Slayer is perhaps not quite so distant, but the outcomes are equally great. This may very well be the world’s first catchy singalong drone metal album.