Music / News

Portishead cover ABBA’s ‘SOS’

By Bristol24/7  Wednesday Apr 27, 2016

The first new Portishead track in six years was leaked online on Tuesday. A cover of ABBA’s 1975 smash SOS, it was recorded for the soundtrack of High Rise, Ben Wheatley’s movie adaptation of the Ballard novel. 

Portishead’s version is quite radical. Whereas the original, with its melancholy verses and soaring chorus is a masterpiece of pop dynamics, the Bristol group channel the song’s heartbroken lyrics.

Their minimal arrangement – just drum machine, synth and a hushed, anguished vocal – makes for a truly bleak take on an all-time classic.

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The song’s leak prompted this reaction from Portishead’s Geoff Barrow:

 

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