The Polyphonic Spree has announced they will release their first album in over six years on April 16. Afflatus will feature covers of INXS, Daniel Johnston, Rush, Barry Manilow, The Rolling Stones, ABBA and more. Along with the album announcement, the band has shared a cover of INXS’ “Don’t Change.”
“It was inevitable that the Spree would end up doing this,” frontman Tim DeLaughter said in a press statement. “We were asked to play a covers show at The Kessler Theater in Dallas and were ready to go, but with the shutdowns starting to happen around the country, we made the last-minute call not to perform. We had all been together for weeks rehearsing, so we decided to get the band together at our home studio and record the entire show live in one take, just to capture it. We knew it was probably going to be the last time we saw each other for a long time, and the next day, everything started to close.”
The Polyphonic Spree’s cover of “Don’t Change” incorporates the enthusiastic sounds found in the original, DeLaughter’s voice belting above the symphonic instrumentals. A steady guitar riff dances underneath the track, backup vocalists joining DeLaughter as he asks “don’t change for you, don’t change a thing for me.” An accompanying video for the song sees the band performing as they recorded the track.
Their cover of the song sticks closely to the original, while introducing horns and strings. The track had originally been released in 1982, and appeared on their album Shabooh Shoobah, and had arrived as the album’s second single. DeLaughter’s vocals keep the enthusiastic sound of Michael Hutchence’s original lyrics, however introduces a slight echo.
The band recently celebrated their 20th anniversary, and plans to release an album filled with original material sometime this upcoming fall. Meanwhile, Afflatus will feature covers of some of The Polyphonic Spree’s favorite tracks, many of which hold special significance to the members.
“A lot of the music I’m attracted to, melodically speaking, can be traced back to my younger years,” DeLaughter said in a press statement. “I was running my dad’s business on the weekends as a kid, and there was this cassette of Barry Manilow songs that I played over and over. I loved the grandiose, high-reaching production for essentially a pop song.”
We’re back! Our new album ‘Afflatus’ is out this Friday, with ten covers songs that mean a lot to us. It’s been a crazy…
Posted by The Polyphonic Spree on Monday, April 12, 2021
“We’re back! Our new album Afflatus is out this Friday, with ten cover songs that mean a lot to us,” the band said in the Facebook post. “It’s been a crazy year and we’re so happy to be back in the studio working on a enw original album, whcih will be ready later this year. We can’t wait for you to hear what we’ve been working on!”
The band took to Facebook to reveal the release of their upcoming covers album, as well as tease the release of the album they will be releasing in the fall. Last September, the band had teased the release of the covers with an EP titled Hope It Finds You Well.
Afflatus tracklist:
1. Don’t Change (INXS)
2. You Put My Love Out The Door (Daniel Johnston)
3. She’s A Rainbow (The Rolling Stones)
4. Run To Me (Bee Gees)
5. The Porpoise Song (The Monkees)
6. Could It Be Magic (Barry Manilow)
7. Let Em In (Wings)
8. Never My Own (The Association)
9. The Spirit of Radio (Rush)
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