DARKHER present an incredibly beautiful rendering of that in many ways most tragic SOUNDGARDEN song ‘Like Suicide‘, which is carried by Jayn Maiven’s magical voice and haunting instrumentation. The mysterious British artist has furthermore illustrated this touching song with a brilliant video.
More information about the forthcoming MER Redux Series installment “Superunknown Redux” can be found below. The massive double album has been scheduled for release on July 14.
The DARKHER cover track of SOUNDGARDEN‘s ‘Like Suicide’ is now available for publication via this link: https://youtu.be/JeoLLMqrpoM
Pre-sale link: http://lnk.spkr.media/soundgarden-redux
Parallel to “Superunknown Redux”, Magnetic Eye Records will release the by now customary companion album entitled “Best of Soundgarden Redux” that contains further 15 cover versions of deep cuts and all-time classics from across SOUNDGARDEN’s extensive catalogue recorded by more exciting artists.
DARKHER comment: “When I was approached for my own rendition of ‘Like Suicide’ by Soundgarden, I felt it was important to do a version which sensitively captured the spirit of the original song”, singer and multi-instrumentalist Jayn Maiven explains. “Yet I also decided to take the lyrics musically on a different journey.”
Jadd Shickler adds: “The death of Chris Cornell hit fans and musicians like a bomb, myself included”, the label manager writes. “In an inexplicable way, it felt almost like I’d lost a personal friend. I did not actually know him, but there was so much longing and melancholy in a lot of his music that one could almost feel that he’d spent his life fighting to hold himself together and eventually just couldn’t fight anymore. When the time came to assemble the artists to re-imagine ‘Superunknown’, it felt important to make a statement about losing him, so I specifically asked Darkher to consider taking on ‘Like Suicide’. I knew that her delicate, haunting nature would recast this song as something more tragic and amplify the visceral sense of loss that so many of us feel about Chris being gone. And just as I expected, her rendition is a perfectly heartbroken goodbye.”
The sinister yet beguiling images that DARKHER aka Jayn Maiven paints with her ethereal vocals, guitars, and added strings conjure iridescent cinematic scenes in which it becomes hard to tell whether there lies beauty in darkness or if it is the other way around. With her latest album, the sophomore full-length “The Buried Storm”, the guitarist, composer, lyricist, and producer has clearly succeeded to even improve the beloved alchemic musical formula that was firmly established on DARKHER‘s debut album “Realms” in 2016. DARKHER were conceived as the sole brainchild and solo-project of Northern English singer and guitarist Jayn Maiven in 2012. The dark and melancholic yet also massively heavy sound on the self-titled debut EP “Darkher” 2013) combined with the distinct vocals of the shy pre-Raphaelite beauty caused an audible buzz – particularly in the doom scene – and led to the following EP “The Kingdom Field” (2014) via Prophecy Productions. Despite not having an album out, DARKHER were invited to prestigious festivals such as Roadburn in Tilburg, The Netherlands and Prophecy Fest in the Cave of Balve. In 2016, the debut full-length “Realms” was released to much praise from critics and fans alike. Press compared DARKHER‘s music with a wide range of highly individual acts such as CHELSEA WOLFE, ESBEN AND THE WITCH, SÓLSTAFIR, LOREENA MCKENNITT, and PORTISHEAD. “The Buried Storm” gives shape to the darkness lurking at the edge of consciousness, hidden from plain sight but patiently biding its time to strike out at the heart.
Tracklist “Superunknown Redux”
1. Ufomammut ‘Let Me Drown
2. High Priest feat. Bobby Ferry (16) ‘My Wave’
3. Marissa Nadler ‘Fell on Black Days’
4. Somnuri ‘Mailman’
5. Valley of the Sun ‘Superunknown’
6. Frayle ‘Head Down’
7. Spotlights ‘Black Hole Sun’
8. Horseburner ‘Spoonman’
9. Witch Mountain ‘Limo Wreck’
10. Beastwars ‘The Day I Tried to Live’
11. Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows ‘Kickstand’
12. The Age of Truth ‘Fresh Tendrils’
13. Marc Urselli’s SteppenDoom feat. Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), Igor Sydorenko (Stoned Jesus), Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven), Albert Kuvezin (Yat-Kha) & Utelo ‘4th of July’
14. Dozer ‘Half’
15. Darkher ‘Like Suicide’
Rising at the end of the 20th century, SOUNDGARDEN were loud, heavy, genuine, and unaffected by whatever was cool. Their mix of weighty power, soaring melodies and punk sneer made them ideal standard bearers for the grunge movement, but their towering musicianship and intelligent songcraft helped them transcend the era and remain iconic far beyond their origins in the Seattle scene. Arguably their finest and most comprehensive statement, “Superunknown” was the album that launched them to global mega-stardom. It contains some of the most lasting, meaningful, and heaviest songs they ever wrote.
“Superunknown Redux” presents new takes on all fifteen tracks from the seminal SOUNDGARDEN album from some of the loudest, coolest, and most eclectic bands across rock and metal today, along with a few less heavy but absolutely captivating contributions.
Along with “Superunknown Redux”, we also present our “Best of Soundgarden Redux” companion album, offering up another 15 all-time classics and deep cuts from across the rest of the grunge gods’ extensive catalog.
The Magnetic Eye Redux Series features hand-picked classic albums from across the history of rock and metal re-imagined in their entirety from start to finish. Artists we love from within and outside the heavy rock landscape choose tracks to make their own, bringing these milestone records into the new millennium with crushing heaviness and searing energy. To date, we’ve produced Redux editions of PINK FLOYD’s “The Wall”, HELMET’s “Meantime”, BLACK SABBATH’s “Vol. 4”, HENDRIX’s “Electric Ladyland”, ALICE IN CHAINS’ “Dirt”, and AC/DC’s “Back in Black”, which have included artists like RED FANG, MATT PIKE, PALLBEARER, THE MELVINS, ALL THEM WITCHES, KHEMMIS, ASG, SUPERSUCKERS, ZAKK WYLDE, MARK LANEGAN, RUBY THE HATCHET, and many more amazing artists.
Tune into the seventh foray into Redux territory as Magnetic Eye Records and friends pay long-due respect to the Seattle legends with “Superunknown Redux”.
Release date: July 14, 2023
Style: Doom, Stoner Rock & Metal, Psych Rock et al.
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Shop
http://lnk.spkr.media/soundgarden-redux
Formats
“Superunknown Redux” is available as a gatefold marble red and black vinyl 2LP, a gatefold white vinyl 2LP, and a gatefold black vinyl 2LP, and as a Digisleeve 2CD.