It's always a good sign when a singer/songwriter can take a well-known track and push something to the fore that was previously hidden, and so it proves with this Interpol cover by Galway-born London-based Julie Hawk. Indeed if you were to choose a song by the NYC quartet that was begging for an acoustic version, 'Narc' - from their classic album Antics - probably wouldn't be at the top of the list: excellent as it is, it's more about the interplay between those piercing guitar lines and the top-of-its-game rhythm section; not to mention that exquisite breakdown and outro.
Hawk's version, however, emphasises a melodic strength to the song that wasn't always so obvious, and redirects the focus on to a lyric that's one of Paul Banks' less cryptic/daft (delete as appropriate) ones. She even pulls off the switch-up towards the end with aplomb.
Hawk's 'Take Off Your Suit'/'The Postcard' is available as a name-your-price download from Bandcamp. The impressive, restless range of her vocals drive songs that can have a dramatic and tense sweep to them (the former) or a wistful and regretful air (the latter).
She plays the Roisin Dubh in Galway this Thursday night with Come On Live Long.
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