We were bummed to learn the other day that Placebo had to postpone their North American tour due to “unprecedented visa and logistical issues beyond [their] control.” We were eager to hear the enduring British rock band’s blistering eighth album Never Let Me Go, released back in March, in all its raw live fury, but turns out we’ll have to wait a bit longer as they get the paperwork all sorted out. To hold us over, Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal have given us a spark-sexy cover of Tears For Fears’ ’80s classic “Shout,” out today and available to hear below.
Given that Placebo are responsible for one of the greatest covers ever, their early-’00s version of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” nearly two decades before Stranger Things resurrected it, this new joint is definitely of interest. It’s got the seductive mysticism Placebo are known for, but still retains its original magnetism. Plus, Molko has a whole backstory for covering it, and it’s pretty interesting.
“In the mid 1980s when I was a teenager, ‘Shout’ by Tears for Fears served as part of my political awakening,” Molko writes on the internet. “Today I realize that it could be about anything that angers or frustrates a person. For me it’s a call to arms for self-expression, speaking one’s own truth. As I watched my son’s generation become more politicized, and the world continue to crumble around us, I wanted to offer him & his contemporaries a protest anthem, since it appears that it is mostly them who still have the capacity to save us from ourselves.”
He adds: “‘Shout’s’ essence as a song is its simplicity, it feels very natural to engage directly with it. This rallying cry against apathy will hopefully provide a context for those who care to express their anger. Or simply offer some kind of catharsis. It certainly still does both for me.”
Let it all out, yeah.