Robyn Hitchcock this August will release a brand-new, Joe Boyd-produced album titled The Man Upstairs that will be “part well-known favorites, part personal discoveries, and part originals,” according to Yep Roc Records. The first offering off the record is an acoustic take on the Psychedelic Furs’ classic “The Ghost in You,” which you can stream in full below.
According to Yep Roc:
Modern standards like Roxy Music’s “To Turn You On,” The Doors’ “The Crystal Ship” and The Psychedelic Furs’ “The Ghost In You” are interlaced with lesser-known gems from such pals as Grant-Lee Phillips (“Don’t Look Down”) and I Was A King (“Ferries”), the latter featuring harmony vocals and guitar from the Norwegian indiepop combo’s own Anne Lise Frøkedal. Meanwhile, new Hitchcock originals like “Trouble In Your Blood” and “Comme Toujours” stand among his most fragile and heartfelt, his stark vocal and guitar cast by Boyd against simple, autumnal backing from longtime collaborators Jenny Adejayan (cello), Charlie Francis (piano), and the aforementioned Frøkedal (harmonies).
Check out the first single and full tracklist below:
Tracklist: Robyn Hitchcock, The Man Upstairs
1. “The Ghost In You”
2. “San Francisco Patrol”
3. “To Turn You On”
4. “Trouble In Your Blood”
5. “Somebody To Break Your Heart”
6. “Don’t Look Down”
7. “Ferries”
8. “Comme Toujours”
9. “The Crystal Ship”
10. “Recalling The Truth”
Love his acoustic stuff!
Nice to have a studio take of this! I’ve been digging the live version on the B-side of “One Long Pair Of Eyes” since it came out in 1989. Thanks Robyn!
What a great take on a Furs classic!
Singer and song are a great match, for sure!
Gorgeous!
As brilliant as I figured it would be. Nice to hear in a studio version finally after so many live bootleg versions. Will be buying, as if there were a doubt.
What a cover! Furs sung it well in studio but can’t sing live. now this, this is awesome!
Seriously?
Butler’s voice has impressed me every single time I’ve seen the furs live. Every single time, from 1984 to 2014. Never a sour note or s lazy slide or a modified high note. Not too many singers I can say that about.
I enjoy Hitchcock, but only 10 songs on the album when he’s likely got tons more to make it really worth buying.
Excellent version.
There is a very very good concert available at archive.org that includes a (to my ears) better version of this recorded on Oct. 31, 2003 at the bottom line.
https://archive.org/details/rhitchcock2003-10-31a
There are many other R Hitchcock concerts available there. You’re welcome in advance.
Oh– fully legal to download, btw.
Thanks! Looking forward to this!
here’s a vid, very recent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdCcZ0r_j4U
I am always let down by cover versions like this. It does not convey the original’s emotion. Why record a cover if you can’t add something to it???