Tori Amos & Trevor Horn – “Swimming Pools (Drank)” (Kendrick Lamar Cover)
Tori Amos has a long history of releasing cover songs that radically reimagine the originals. She’s turned tracks from people like Nirvana, Eminem, and Slayer into tender, exploratory piano pieces, and now she’s done the same for one of Kendrick Lamar’s early hits. We knew this was coming, and the Tori Amos version of “Swimming Pools (Drank)” is now out there in the world.
Tori Amos’ take on “Swimming Pools (Drake)” is the opening track from Trevor Horn’s new album Echoes: Ancient & Modern. Horn has been a member of groups like the Buggles, Yes, and the Art Of Noise, but he’s best-known for producing huge, technically radical ’80s and ’90s hits. On Echoes: Ancient & Modern, Horn teams up with a bunch of different singers to cover well-known pop songs — some from Horn’s back catalog, some not. We’ve already posted Lady Blackbird doing Grace Jones’ “Slave To The Rhythm,” Seal trying out Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out,” Marc Almond singing Pat Benatar’s “Love Is A Battlefield,” Iggy Pop taking on Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” and Rick Astley covering Yes’ “Owner Of A Lonely Heart.” Today, we get the main event.
Tori Amos and Trevor Horn have worked together in the past, on soundtrack songs for the movies Toys and Mona Lisa Smile. Horn doesn’t do too much of his slick mega-producer stuff on the new version of “Swimming Pools (Drank).” Instead, it’s mostly Tori Amos on piano, whisper-cooing Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics about addiction. She doesn’t rap, exactly, but her voice slides into syncopated cadences pretty easily. Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics, however, do not sound very natural coming out of Tori Amos’ voice. It sounds insane. Below, listen to the Tori Amos/Trevor Horn cover of “Swimming Pools (Drake)” and check out the video for the Kendrick Lamar original.
While you’re at it, you can stream Trevor Horn’s whole Echoes: Ancient & Modern album below.
Echoes: Ancient & Modern is out now on Deutsche Grammophon. Check out our We’ve Got A File On You interview with Tori Amos here.