Ane Brun – Leave me Breathless album review: Superb cover album

Leave me Breathless
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Artist: Ane Brun
Genre: Pop
Label: Balloon Ranger Recordings

Cover version albums released just in time for the reasonably lucrative Christmas market usually have a stink of cash-in about them, but leave it to Ane Brun to do things differently, and with more integrity.

The Norwegian-born, Swedish resident has fashioned a 14-track collection of other people’s songs that, initially, were to reference a feverish love affair. “When it ended,” says Brun, “I continued the project.”

It is perhaps cruel to state that Brun's pain is our gain, but the range and delivery of covers here is as much eclectic as superb. From unlikely (Foreigner's I Want to Know What Love Is, Mariah Carey's Hero, Radiohead's How to Disappear Completely) to no-surprises (Bob Dylan's Make you Feel my Love, Nick Cave's Into My Arms), Brun uncovers emotional tics you never realised were there. Exquisite. anebrun.com

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in popular culture