English alt-rock icons Placebo have unveiled a new cover, sharing an industrial rock-tinged version of Tears For Fears’ ‘Shout’. Originally released on the 1984 album Songs From The Big Chair, Placebo’s cover removes some of original track’s pop sheen, replacing it with a menacing sense of urgency.
Speaking of the decision to cover the track, Placebo frontman Brian Molko explains that the original version of ‘Shout’ was an influential part of his formative musical years. “In the mid 1980’s when I was a teenager, ‘Shout’ by Tears For Fears served as part of my political awakening,” he began. “Today I realise that it could be about anything that angers or frustrates a person.”
Placebo – ‘Shout’ (Tears For Fears cover)
“For me it’s a call to arms for self-expression, speaking one’s own truth,” he added. “As I watched my son’s generation become more politicised, 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.”
“‘Shout’s essence as a song is its simplicity, it feels very natural to engage directly with it,” he concluded. “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.”
The arrival of the cover comes six months after the release of their latest album, Never Let Me Go, their first LP in nine years. The new cover also joins a long list of tribute versions recorded by the group, including tracks by Robert Palmer, The Smiths, T-Rex, The Pixies, and Kate Bush.
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