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Following the release of her raw, refreshingly honest second album ‘Another Me’, singer-songwriter Sarah Walk has shared her original take on the Prince classic made famous by Sinéad O’Connor; ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.

 

Walk has wanted to cover Prince for some time, in part due to them both hailing from Minneapolis, but also because collaborators Abe Rounds and Meshell Ndegeocello played the pop legends personal studio Paisley Park in the past. However, she was keen to make it more than a simple replica.  

 

“Truthfully, it had been a really long time since I heard ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’” she tells us, “and I thought that may work in my favour – I didn’t want to get too inside the other versions that already existed because I wanted to make sure I approached it my own way.  

 

I recorded the main wurly piano part first and sort of just improvised that ending build up – I liked the idea of repeating the title over and over, almost trance-like, with these ominous chords and angry guitar sounds building up behind it. I kept seeing this visual of me singing that repetitive lyric on stage, almost trying to convince myself I was okay… while the curtain opened up behind me without me knowing it, exposing all of the memories and anger and heartbreak I was really feeling but not able to accept or admit yet.” 

 

Meshell tells us; “Sometimes I think Prince would want everyone to play his music and sometimes I think he’d want it to never be played again, but I knew Sarah was the kind of spirit who would make it her own and she does.” 

 

A graduate of Berklee College of Music (alumni includes St Vincent, Aimee Mann, Melissa Ethridge among others), Walk grew up in Minnesota but has spent much of her time living between Los Angeles and London. She worked on her debut album ‘Little Black Book’ with producer Steve Brown (Laura Mvula) and co-produced ‘Another Me’ with Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, Belle and Sebastian, Paul Simon, Pulp, David Byrne, Brian Eno).  

 

With her recent self-investigative material Sarah Walk explores themes of vulnerability, toxic relationships and entitlement within structural patriarchy. ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ then, one of the most famous love songs of all time, is given the opportunity to exist in a slightly different context, examined by an artist who isn’t afraid to question outdated romantic themes.