
From Sydney, Australia, and Dana Point, California, singer-songwriters and nostalgic musical duo Desert Sparrow releases their haunting rendition of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman."
Comprised of Kylie Adams and Dave Carreno, the artists met at Coachella, and the rest is history. Desert Sparrow blends their eclectic love for 60s rock, folk, spaghetti westerns, and surf rock. The duo is most known for spinning narratives out of the solitude, hardship, and perseverance on the desert roads and coastline of California.
The duo recently released their mysterious and sweltering cover of Fleetwood Mac's smash hit, "Gold Dust Woman," but this time around, listeners can hear a more soulful, haunting, and nostalgic approach to Desert Sparrow's diverse sound. The cover is wildly chilling; from the lingering instrumentals to Kylie's soulful and dense vocal stylings, they've truly left us in awe.
Beginning our venture into the cover of "Gold Dust Woman," we're greeted with heavy and organic drum breaks alongside reverbed electric guitars and a soulful acoustic that sets the song's lush and dreamy tone. As Kylie Adams begins to serenade us with a similar vocal tonality and approach as Ms. Stevie Nicks, she takes us by surprise with her vocal passion and poise.
Dave Carreno's shimmering and haunting instrumentals are enough to bring us to our knees, especially as Desert Sparrow adds several unique spins and additions to the already-amazing song. This is truly a great way to get to know Desert Sparrow's diverse stylings as they show us what they're made of through needed covers like this.
Shatter your illusions of love with Desert Sparrow's cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Desert Sparrow. We truly appreciate the haunting and heavy tone of your cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman." What inspired your duo to create a cover of this timeless hit?
During lockdown last year, we decided to invest in some recording equipment and begin learning how to record ourselves. We were actually scheduled to go into the studio the week the world shut down and because that didn’t happen, we decided to take it into our own hands. We had only ever recorded demos ourselves, nothing sophisticated. So in order to get a really good feel and understanding of what we were doing, we thought why not start off with some covers. We are massive Fleetwood Mac fans, “Gold Dust Woman” is one of our all-time favorite songs, and felt it’s a Mac tune that doesn’t get enough love and hasn’t been covered as much as their other tracks. Although Fleetwood Mac is primarily known as a Pop band, if you really dig deeper, there are tons of hidden gems that showcase a darker and more haunting side to their music that we absolutely love.
What was your creative process like when adding your own flair and feel to the instrumentals of "Gold Dust Woman"? How did you recreate this song to make it feel like your own?
At the time, we were house-sitting for a friend who moved back home overseas. In their garage, there was a drum kit, a djembe (an African hand drum), a cowbell, and all sorts of percussive instruments. Dave started messing around with everything around the house to see what could potentially work. We’re both fans of tribal sounds, especially the heavy power of the rhythms and beats, so we definitely wanted to incorporate that aspect into this song. At the time we were listening to a lot of the Growlers 1st album, Khruangbin and Dave were heavily inspired by those psychedelics, surfy clean guitar sounds.
To us, “Gold Dust Woman” is already a perfect song. It would be easy to simply record a straight-up cover and copy all their parts from start to finish, but the truth is, that’s kind of boring and people will always prefer the original version anyway. If you’ve ever heard Australian radio station Triple J’s ‘Like A Version’ where artists cover their favorite songs, the best ones are always those who make it their own. It’s important to respect the music but also to ask yourself “How would you record this song if it were yours?”. That’s where the fun really begins, like adding different background vocals in certain sections, recording a vibraslap through delay, adding a djembe part, and putting distortion on it. Just get weird with it and let loose. Especially the 2nd half of the song…their version is very guitar-driven with all those overdubs, but instead of sticking to that, we wanted the focus to be more on the rhythm section and even throw in a little drum break towards the end with some cowbell. Because why not?
Did you work with any producers or engineers to help bring your vision to life for "Gold Dust Woman?"
Our friend Matt “Linny” Linesch of Infinitespin Studio did the mixing. We basically told him what we wanted and he simply worked his magic. Easy Peasy. Mastering was done by Hans DeKline who’s also amazing.
Is "Gold Dust Woman" the first cover your duo has released? Might you delve into more covers in the future?
Yes, it’s our first cover but certainly not our last. We’ve got another one in the works. Ever heard of Crowded House? Stay tuned!
What's next for you?
We’re playing at the Silver Lake Lounge on February 6th with Sean Fleming and special guests. Additional shows will be announced in the new year. And more singles coming out all throughout 2022.
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