Bonobo Reinvents Donovan in ‘Get Thy Bearings’ – Premiere
DJ and musician Bonobo, a.k.a. Simon Green, reinvents Donovan‘s “Get Thy Bearings” for the latest edition of the artist curated Late Night Tales series. Bringing the 1968 Hurdy Gurdy Man track into the 21st century with the help of vocalist Szjerdene – who was featured on Bonobo’s acclaimed sixth album The North Borders earlier this year – the sultry jazz-pop interpretation is complemented by this black-and-white video, which finds two statues getting intimate.
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“[It’s] something I wanted to properly record for a long time as we performed it live on KCRW Los Angeles back in 2010,” Green tells Rolling Stone. “I have always been a big fan of Donovan.” As with many of the Late Night Tales compilations, which began in 2001 and encourage musicians to compile an album’s worth of songs they find special.
Aside from the Donovan number, Green approached his own installment of Late Night Tales – which came out on November 18th – by choosing music that he listened to at home during the past two decades. From the classic soul of Dorando’s “Didn’t I” to Nina Simone‘s “Baltimore” and on to Bill Evans’ piano-driven “Peace Piece,” Bonobo’s 21 song choices are peppered with brass and keyboards.
In previous installments, the Flaming Lips covered the White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army,” Snow Patrol redid the INXS track “New Sensation” and Belle and Sebastian took on the Primitives’ “Crash” for their own versions of Late Night Tales.