26 JANUARY 2020: ALICE GRAY – Riptide

You might think you’ve heard enough Vance Joy covers to last a lifetime, but Alice Gray makes ‘Riptide’ sound nothing like you’ve ever heard it before.

Rising star Alice Gray has turned what’s potentially one of the most overdone records of all time into something that sounds fresh, lively and engaging. Set against a bouncy, 80s-influenced electropop production, she pulls a number of harmonies out of the original melody to add layers to her version – particularly evident in the middle-8. Whilst sharing it to her social media, she gave us the rather endearing story that it was originally intended to be a more subdued, moody reworking, but they were simply ‘not in the mood’ when recording it. I for one am so glad, since her breezy and joyful interpretation is pretty damn fabulous.