Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes are doing things a little differently with their album release. While most bands opt either for a traditional rollout or some sort of brief, surprise, drop, Ellsworth & The Great Lakes are going away from that. Their new album has been dropping in installments throughout the year, with Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 already out and the last section coming a bit down the line. Each chapter so far has included some great tracks, and “Modern Lover” from Chapter 2 is one of our favorites. That’s why we’re so excited to premiere a new, stripped down version of “Modern Lover” here on Substream today.
This new version of “Modern Lover” preserves almost all of what’s great about the full version. It’s still got a funky sense of momentum to it, and Ellsworth still gives the vocals everything he’s got. With just one synth and some drum tracks to go with the guitar and bass, some of the creative maneuvering to fill in the wonderfully lush track are truly impressive. The video that accompanies “Modern Lover” of the band sitting on a couch jamming is great, as well. You can feel the camaraderie amongst the band as they perform, and the closeup view of them gives the whole track a cozy, inviting feel.
Asked about the project, Ellsworth said “We did this stripped down version of ‘Modern Lover’ for our Backtracked series on the couch in my bedroom. This was a fun one to try and figure out how to do. All the alternating rhythms and dropped beats that we’re so used to doing with full instrumentation in our live show were completely different to try and nail with an acoustic guitar, tiny synth, and drum machine tracks. The hardest part, though, was probably trying to keep my dog and Marshall’s dog from walking into the shot mid-take. In their defense, they are both very talented horn players.”
Listen to the stripped-down “Modern Lover” below. We’re eager to see Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes complete their album, and the anticipation will be the same for you once you check out their latest take on “Modern Lover.”
