Ethereal singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler has risen from the confines of the Covid-19 quarantine with a new collection of covers on her digital-only release, Instead of Dreaming. Like many artists, the Covid-19 pandemic stopped Marissa Nadler in her tracks. She was unable to tour, which she does a lot of, so instead of being knocked down, she stood firm and released Instead of Dreaming.
One of the things that Marissa Nadler does amazingly is covering other artists. Nadler is the kind of artist who will not just play a cover note for note with her own identity. Instead, she has this unique way of taking any song and turning it into a piece that sounds like she wrote them herself. She also catches me off guard with her choice of covers which, as a fan, I love because it keeps me intrigued and keeps Nadler from being a predictable artist.
Instead of Dreaming opens with the ethereal, haunting vocal/instrumental “Moon,” followed by a cover of progressive rock masters King Crimson’s “Moonchild.” King Crimson is not a band that I would expect to have a song that could translate into a sparse, haunting kind of folk song, but Nadler does it with ease. Her choice of covers on the rest of the album is, again, unpredictable but absolutely beautiful.
Even songs like America’s “Lonely People” and Townes Van Zandt’s “My Proud Mountains,” which already are folk songs, are given the Marissa Nadler treatment and stripped down and taken to a darker, haunting place. Bob Dylan’s “I Was Young When I Left Home” is such a moving song already, but Nadler put in a whole new feeling and level of sadness and desperation to it. Hell, she even took one of the most un-interesting Metallica songs of all time, “Nothing Else Matters,” and turned it into a song that captivated me and actually made me feel something. Who says you can’t polish a turd?
I know I use the word “haunting” a lot, but sometimes I can only describe an artist with a word or two, which isn’t always bad. Haunting, ethereal, dreamy, comforting, disturbing are the words that come to mind when describing Instead of Dreaming. Instead of Dreaming expresses emotions of sadness, optimism, and longing in my generation’s darkest time. Instead of Dreaming closes with another instrumental/vocal composition called “Sun,” which I find very appropriate. Maybe this is Marissa Nadler’s way of telling us that there is light, a new day, and a new time for us all for healing and moving forward.
Tracklist:
Moon – Marissa Nadler
Moonchild – King Crimson
Sleep Walk – Santo and Johnny
Old Friends/Bookends – Simon & Garfunkle
America – Lonely People
Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
My Proud Mountains – Townes Van Zandt
I Was Young When I Left Home – Bob Dylan
I Started a Joke – The Bee Gees
Sun – Marissa Nadler
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