It has only been out for a few weeks, but nearly everyone has taken a crack at covering Adele’s “Hello.” There’s Demi Lovato’s version from a Seattle radio station concert from a few days ago, there’s that unknown South Korean high school student we wrote about earlier this month, and then there’s pretty much anyone who has sat in traffic. Everyone sounds great. Really.
Today, former Bostonian and current Los Angelino Barleaux jumps into the “Hello” mix, and her recent covers game is straight fire. A while back she dropped a new take on Bob Moses’ “Too Much Is Never Enough”, and this week uses her Echo Park apartment for an acoustic rendition of “Hello,” pairing her powerful voice with the tender guitar playing of Natasha Chitayat.
“I remember hearing this song for the first time and tearing up,” Barleaux tells Vanyaland. “It just fit in perfectly with what I was going through at the time. The feeling of distance and time — it’s something I’m constantly picking at as a writer. ‘Hello’ has such a resonating message, and I really related to it. Also, I think I can speak for everyone who loves music in saying that we are so glad Adele is back and more badass than ever. We knew it was coming… it was just a question of when.”
Of course, taking on someone like Adele can be intimidating. Especially when not stuck in traffic, in the shower, or the frozen food aisle at the Allston Stop & Shop singing to pre-packaged chicken tenders.
“Doing covers in general are intimidating,” Barleaux admits. “I’m not really one to dig into the YouTube cover world, but when something is organic and you have the right team to help you out, it should and will feel natural.”
Watch Barleaux’s cover below; the video was directed by Marvin Sayson and post-production was done on the fly by engineer Keith Munson. Afterwards, go ahead and pre-order her debut record, w y l d d e s ! r e, now via iTunes…