Myrkur and King Dude’s haunting cover of ABBA’s “Winner Takes It All” was originally recorded in Seattle, WA, in 2017, according to theprp. The deconstructed recontextualization of the original strips bare ABBA’s melodic pop edge with a slow tempo and penetrating vocals that seem to rise out of a dark recess to infect the listener with a lingering unease.

Mykur, featured as the mxdwn album of the year with Mareridt, is the pseudonym for Danish artist Amalie Bruun, who signed to Relapse Records in 2014 and debuted with a self-titled EP on which she provided all of the vocals, guitars, and bass, according to Wikipedia. Mykur is known for synthesizing the black metal aesthetic with tranquil vocals to create a dichotomy of the senses.

The collaboration with Seattle’s King Dude, a.k.a. Thomas Jefferson Cowgill, who is known for a dark take on traditional folk music and for fronting metal band Book of Black Earth, deftly contrasts powerful vocals with a slow building momentum. Interestingly, the ABBA cover “Winner Takes It All,” comes after the announcement ABBA will reunite to begin working on new material. Listen to the cover followed by the original below:

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat