Around these parts we sure do love a good Joy Division cover, especially one that adds a new emotive dimension to a classic song we’ve tossed back a few thousand times over the past four decades. Our latest fave comes from Amythyst Kiah, the Tennessee alt-country blues singer-songwriter who this past Friday (January 14) stripped down iconic break-up anthem “Love Will Tear Us Apart” into an acoustic elegiac ballad
“’Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is the tragedy of knowing that the spark is gone forever,” says Kiah. “The weight of helplessness bearing down, the feeling of being alone in the presence of a partner that is emotionally and mentally miles away and is never coming back. Here’s to taking a sad song and making it sadder.”
Released by Joy Division in June 1980 as a non-album single, one month after the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis and one month before second and final album Closer, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” has an enduring quality to it. And part of that extended awareness is fueled by re-imaginations like this one.
Kiah released her third album Wary + Strange last year via Rounder Records, earning three Americana Music Award nominations and two more from British counterpart Americana UK. Next month she’ll play the Brandi Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival in Mexico, and more live dates are expected to be announced soon.