After a successful night at the 2014 Grammy Awards, New Zealand's Lorde is more popular than ever. Her hit song "Royals" received the golden gramophone for best pop solo performance and song of the year. Taking advantage of her success, Canadian artist Shmu has released his own version of the popular tune. While a quick search on Youtube reveals hundreds of covers of this track, Shmu's version of "Royals" is innovate and divergent compared to Lorde's mainstream pop piece.
In the cover, Shmu layers enchanting vocal melodies with scattered percussion and electronic sounds, which somehow blend effortlessly underneath a cloud of organized chaos. The listener is kept on their proverbial toes, anticipating the twists and turns of the sonic journey created by Shmu. There aren't many artists that can create a remix of a massive pop hit and have it transcend genres in such a thought-provoking way.
Sam Chown (aka Shmu) is also the vocalist and drummer for the band Zorch, who have recently finished a lengthy U.S. tour with Tera Melos and Fang Island. Shmu has also just finished up a mini tour in preparation for the launch of his EP Chroma Key, which will be released courtesy of Grand Theft Zamboni on January 28th. You can download Shmu's cover of "Royals" free of charge.
Shmu
Chroma Key
- Grand Theft Zamboni
- 1-28-2014
