Sorority Noise – “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” (Leonard Cohen Cover)
Sorority Noise’s You’re Not As _____ As You Think was one of the best albums of 2017 and, as part of a process of revisiting and refining that LP that started with last fall’s Alone 7″ (which filled in that blank in the title), the band has announced an acoustic version of it, dubbed YNAAYT that’ll come out next month. It’s not “acoustic” in the strictest sense of the word; rather, the songs are stripped-back and adorned with strings and mellowed-out compared to their originals.
If you’ve seen Sorority Noise or Cameron Boucher perform live ever — like, say, at our Stereogum Session, for instance — then there’s a chance you’ve seen them break out an acoustic version of a song. They’re typically pretty great and also emotionally harrowing, so an album full of them is both an exciting and daunting prospect.
YNAAYT is mostly what it’s billed as, meaning stripped-down rearrangements of existing songs, but there are two new recordings included: a closing track called “Windowwww” and a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2.” Today, the band is sharing that cover, and it’s a tender and fragile take on the classic song. Listen to it below.
YNAAYT is out 3/16 via Triple Crown Records. Revisit our interview with the band’s Cameron Boucher from around the time of the last album release.