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Paraorchestra with Brett Anderson & Charles Hazlewood: Death Songbook review – a vivid time capsule
Recorded live, this pandemic-era collaboration covering songs on death and loss by Depeche Mode, Mercury Rev, Suede and more occasionally transcends its source material
It was Hazlewood’s plan to create a concert of cover songs about death or loss, with Anderson invited on board to front and help curate the project. Yet Anderson is often in finest voice on the material he knows best, such as Suede’s The Next Life or his own little-known solo track Unsung, rather than trying to freight drama into the blank stillness of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence that it really doesn’t need. Elsewhere, the orchestra’s take on Mercury Rev’s Holes is a clear standout, likewise a grand rearrangement of Echo & the Bunnymen’s The Killing Moon, while slight Suede B-side He’s Dead builds to a stunning crescendo that completely transports the song.
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