The notorious romantic rock group, LOVESICK, has revived a late 2000s classic with a beautiful rendition of Future Islands' "Beach Foam."
LOVESICK is a creative collaboration between Heather Joy Morgan, a painter and chanteuse, and the notorious cutting-edge trio, The Elevator Drops. With Adam Wade of the Funeral Party band, they bring an overdose of inventive love songs exploring the splendor and madness of affection. Having numerous artistic talents and elements together gives LOVESICK their eclectic versatility sonically. The power unit released a touching "Beach Foam" cover on June 12, 2023, accompanied by a hazy, dreamy video.
Future Islands is a fan-adored synth-pop indie band that has been around since their debut album, "Wave Like Home," in 2008. They're known for combining the romanticism of the new wave with the power and drive of post-punk. LOVESICK found a way to bring this song back to life in a classic yet rejuvenating way.
Slightly slowing down the original record's BPM while making it feel more upbeat brought their style to the essence of "Beach Foam."
It could be the more prominent drum style, or it could replace the smooth synths with strummy classic 80s-esque guitars that add movement. Whatever it is, it works, and LOVESICK did this song justice, which is challenging to pull off on a monumental song from such a timeless indie album as "Wave Like Home."
The creative video accompanying the ethereal cover song follows the story of a mermaid being saved after washing up on the beach shore. She then spends the rest of the video in a bathtub, as colors flood the screen and the romantic relationship between her and the protagonist in the story flourishes.
Overall, it is a touching experience. LOVESICK deserves to be applauded for their rendition of a record that would be hard to reproduce creatively, yet they had no trouble doing it. Take in the video, "Beach Foam - Future Islands (ELECTRIC VERSION)," from the album LOVESICK VS Terry Palmer, and be seduced by the enchanted melodic journey.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Lovesick." Your impressive cover of a cult classic, "Beach Foam," is noteworthy. Have you performed this record before as a group, or was this the first time you came together to revamp it?
(Goolkasian) A Million Years ago, on the first Elevator Drops tour, these three shy kids wandered backstage and introduced themselves to us as Art Lord & the Self Portraits. About three centuries later, I released the first Texas Governor CD and got a check for a Record and a self-made CD titled Art Lord & the Self Portraits (hand drawn in Permanent Marker). It was very lo-fi, but I loved the gravely, heartfelt vocals, and the fun simplicity of the band shone through. My favorite song was, of course, Beach Foam.
We soon booked a small tour together, and on the night of the first show, they announced that they were changing their name to The Future Islands. The whole tour was a blur - I was delighted about Cherry Robitussin. I had enough energy each day to go wild for our 45-minute set; then, I would collapse in a shivering pile backstage, drinking Robitussin like a delicious comfort kool-aide. I kept thinking I would get better the next day, but it got worse and worse. One night after a show in Asheville, Sam (future Islands) came out and started freestyle rapping, and he was amazing - I was so messed up on cough medicine that I was sure I had hallucinated this, but later, I found out it was real.
At some point, my Girlfriend and the bands intervened, all sort of tricked me into going to the ER. I had severely advanced Walking Pneumonia. I forgot your question, I guess, hahaha! Anyhow I Love these guys, and I've always loved Beach Foam. Terry Palmer decided to record a cover version of it. I was at first like, "NO WAY, MAN," You can't cover such a classic song, but he persisted, changing the key, speeding it up, slowing it down, adding louder guitars, and eventually, it achieved the sort of dream pop style it is now.
What inspired LOVESICK to cover "Beach Foam" in the 80-s cure-esque style?
(TERRY PALMER) Playing the synth parts on guitar was an obvious way to set it apart from the original, so it evolved truer to our actual musical style. It is mostly an attempt to stay respectful of the song because it is already great, but hopefully, it shows it from a different perspective. (Goolkasian) The hardest part for me was finding a way to convey the intense emotion of the lyrics in my style, which, after much struggle, I will be bold enough to say I think I feel great about. Sam's vocal performance on the original track is masterful.
How did the video idea come about, with the touching story of saving a mermaid?
(Heather Joy Morgan) The mermaid story/concept was an allegory of longing to tame this wild creature and get this NYC artist girlfriend (Heather) to move to NH to be with the lonely boy wandering the seacoast in search of love. We started recording it, and it was so much fun - we recorded most of it in our house but shot the final scenes on a beach in Malibu. It was super cold.
Who are the main influences of the different members of LOVESICK that bring this vintage/modern pop-rock sound to life?
Terry is a lunatic. You can ask him what bands he likes or about other projects he's worked on, as he is a talented engineer who HAS produced or engineered on some well-known projects, but he will sort of just mumble incoherently, then drift off and begin telling absurd jokes. Heather loves classic alternative, 70s underground, gothic music, 60s girl group, Bowie, and all things poetic and melodramatic. (Goolkaisan) I LOVE everything. Except I hate Modern Country Music and Jazz, that's too freeform. I hate that overly emotional semi-acoustic fake music they play at restaurants now. Oh, wait, I also hate auto-tuned talk rap. Oh, I hate that song that sounds a lot like Bye Bye, Miss American Pie - no idea who it is, but he should get a cease and desist order from Don McClain (I think that's who wrote that song.) I loved that song as a kid, but it's terrible. I hate that too. Also, our LIVE band has Adam Wade from Funeral Party, who loves LOUD GUITAR DRIVEN bands like GANG GREEN and the Cocteau Twins. (LOL) and Palana (PALANA VS THE MAN) on drums. She pretty much just listens to Taylor Swift. Like 24/7. On repeat.
What else must we look forward to coming from LOVESICK this year?
Surprise! We also have a beautiful stripped-down Acoustic sort of Texas Governor-style version of Beach Foam as well from Nick Phaneuf (Texas Governor, Dan Blakslees Calabash Band, Soggy Po Boys, 5-8-13, ... on and on). Nick is a musical ...; what's the polite word for a musician who gets around? There's a great alternate Mermaid Video to go with it as well.