Circuit Des Yeux Covers Galaxie 500 Song “Pictures” for Video Series

Haley Fohr, the multi-talented musician behind Circuit Des Yeux and Jackie Lynn, has released new cover of Galaxie 500’s original song “Pictures” off the group’s 1988 debut album, Today. The cover is part of a new video series project that honors the alternative rock band with 20 covers, which was organized by famed Yoko Ono and Guided By Voices manager, David Newgarden.

Newgarden originally envisioned the project as a Record Store Day concert in Brooklyn, New York as a way to celebrate Galaxie 500 before that event was postponed and ultimately cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In her version of “Pictures,” Fohr’s meandering, harmonic vocals cruise over a mercurial and much more reserved take on the original song.

“Thank you, Galaxie 500, for choosing to make music,” Fohr said about the release. “The year ‘Today’ was born was also the year I was born. What a sweet coincidence. Your soundtrack undoubtedly made Earth a softer place to land.”

Galaxie 500 was formed in Massachusetts by guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang. While the three had known each from attending the same college preparatory school, the band was officially formed in 1987 when all three were students at Harvard University. The band would eventually split just four years later but still released three full-length studio albums during their run with Today (1988), On Fire (1989) and This Is Our Music (1990) making up their brief but impactful catalogue.

Fohr, who hails from Indiana, began Circuit Des Yeux in 2007 with an experimental indie alternative sound full of distortions and her haunting vocals, releasing her debut LP, Symphone in 2008. She would release two more albums by 2012, when she moved to Chicago from Bloomington, Indiana upon graduating college. After extensive touring and collaborations, Fohr continued creating music as Circuit Des Yeux before unveiling her alter ego, Jackie Lynn, with an eponymous debut album in 2016. In 2017, Fohr released her sixth Circuit Des Yeux album, Reaching for Indigo.