Of Mice & Men has shared another track from its forthcoming and much-anticipated album Defy, due to be released January 19 via Rise Records. The song “Money,” which is a cover of the Pink FLoyd classic, premiered via SiriusXM’s Octane earlier this week and is now available on all streaming platforms.
In a recent interview with Alternative Press, frontman and bassist Aaron Pauley explained how the cover came together. Once the band had finished recording all the intrumentals for their upcoming album, producer Howard Benson suggested they think about recording a cover.
“[‘Money’] was the first thing blurted out and we all kind of looked at each other like, ‘I don’t know,’” Pauley says. “[Pink Floyd] are kind of in the pantheon of untouchables.”
“We wanted to stick to the original vibe and feel, but all of the sampling for that coins and everything, it’s all modern,” continued Pauley. “So there’s a money counter and a digital coin sound from when you do an online transaction; it’s modernized so it’s not dated back to the ’70s.”
While the original danced around a more rhythmic swinging bass-led pattern, the Of Mice & Men version is more immediate and amped up with guitars to a speed more befitting of their style. The guitars and drumming drive the song with more ferocity, while vocalist Aaron Pauley capably transmits the darker, sinister tone of the song.
Defy marks Of Mice & Men’s first full-length release without vocalist Austin Carlile, who left the group due to his ongoing battle with Marfan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that afflicts the connective tissue holding the body’s cells, organs and tissue together. Handling lead vocals in the band now is bassist Aaron Pauley.
Check out the cover below.
Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schultz
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