Half Waif – “Murphy Bed” (Mirah Cover)
A couple weeks ago, it was announced that Mirah’s debut You Think It’s Like This, But Really It’s Like This was getting a 20th anniversary reissue, complete with a tribute compilation with artists covering each song from the album. And the lineup for that tribute was a pretty impressive array of names from the indie sphere: Mount Eerie, Hand Habits, Allison Crutchfield, the Blow, WHY?, Sad13 & Mal Blum, Flock Of Dimes, Shamir, Palehound, Madeline Kenney. Along with the announcement, we got Mount Eerie’s “Of Pressure” rendition. And today, we get to hear another preview of the tribute album.
The latest single from the reissue is Half Waif’s take on “Murphy Bed.” Here’s what Half Waif’s Nandi Rose had to say about the cover:
It was a huge honor to record a cover for the legendary Mirah in celebration of this 20th anniversary reissue. I chose “Murphy Bed” because I could immediately hear the chorus being reimagined as a more choral-focused arrangement. There’s also something obviously sensual about this song lyrically, so I wanted to play that up with the slow backbeat and just have some fun with it. I’m really grateful to Mirah for her fearless songwriting, and I loved getting to interpret that with my own arrangement.
Half Waif brings “Murphy Bed” into her world — it’s icy, synth-driven, and deeply emotive. It turns out her instincts in picking a cover were dead-on, since the way she approaches the chorus is pretty striking. Below, check out her iteration, as well as the remastered version of Mirah’s original.
The You Think It’s Like This, But Really It’s Like This reissue and tribute LP are out 7/31 via Double Double Whammy. Pre-order it here.