Phoebe Bridgers drops new studio recording of John Prine's 'Summer's End' cover, fans say it's 'perfect'
Phoebe Bridgers has unveiled the proper studio recording of her cover of 'Summer's End' by John Prine. After the sad passing of one of music's greatest songwriters, John Prine in April due to his battle with coronavirus, numerous artistes paid tribute to his life and musical legacy. Among the dozens of artistes who covered Prine's songs, Bridgers took to Instagram shortly after Prine's death to share her initial cover 'Summer's End'.
Now Bridgers has shared a polished up rendition, recorded live at SiriusXMU Sessions studios and broadcast on SiriusXM last week. Listen to it below. On the original cover, Bridgers performed the song from her home, playing live to a computer screen and dressed in pajamas. The new cover now sounds fuller, cleaner and enriched by subtle effects. Her acoustic guitar is crisp while the sustained keys and added layers of guitar drive the rhythm and the whole song sounds both eerie and beautiful.
Fans on Twitter are loving the new rendition. A fan suggested it to other users "If you want to get more up in your feelings" while another said, "Phoebe Bridgers covering John Prine is perfect." One fan wrote, "Remember when @phoebe_bridgers played new songs on her Pitchfork Live and she covered John Prine? Welp, she recorded it for @siriusxmu and you can listen to it here. I gotta say, it’s stunning."
Bridgers' cover also gave an appreciative fan some Prine nostalgia. "Good God, 'The Tree of Forgiveness' remains an undeserved gift," the fan said, referring to Prine's last album. The 'Summer's End' cover comes as one of many covers performed by Bridgers this year. Earlier this month, the singer delivered a cover of Bright Eyes' 'First Day of My Life. In May, she covered The 1975's 'Girls' and in March she covered ‘Girls’ and Conor Oberst’s ‘Mamah Borthwick (a Sketch)’ during which she pointed her followers to the GoFundMe campaign.
Bridgers released her sophomore studio album, 'Punisher', earlier this month (June 18), one day earlier than its expected release date. In an interview with NME, Bridgers said the record was released during a time of uncertainty and solitude. “On the album, I'm grappling a lot with my inability to be grateful for the moment, and this is definitely forcing us to live in the moment," she said, adding, "There is no future to speak of – even though there is, we won’t know what that looks like yet."