Kelsey Blackstone – 505

After releasing a mesmerizing single, “When I’m With You,” Boston-based award-winning musician Kelsey Blackstone shares “505,” a magnificent cover of Arctic Monkeys’ classic. Known for her outstanding vocal abilities and exceptional musicianship, it doesn’t come as a surprise that her rendition sounds better than the original. She uplifted the song to an entirely new level by implementing many details and nuances without spoiling the initial arrangements. Therefore, the tasteful combination of finest properties borrowed from genres such as alternative, garage rock, sleaze rock, and indie rock remains a primary base, but with Blackstone’s fresh and unique approach. These experimentations resulted in a beautiful cover that pays homage to Arctic Monkeys by all means.

As soon as you press play, you’ll immediately notice a big difference between this cover and the original. Kelsey Blackstone‘s marvelous vocal performance immediately shines with perfect balance between low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing all the segments and instrumentations. Her voice skillfully glides over all the instrumentations with such ease, making this song such a pleasant listening experience. The addition of keys and brass section melodies, harmonies, accentuations, and ambiances gives that recognizable seventies atmosphere, serving as a perfect overture into more energetic segments. Blackstone gradually builds the atmosphere by adding more instrumentations to the mix. You’ll hear how profoundly detailed, tastefully distorted guitars serve as more than necessary chord progressions and riffs, while the equally complex, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines offer heaviness, depth, and clarity. The low-end notes also act as a binding element between guitars, brass, keys, and drums. Of course, this rendition wouldn’t sound complete without the excellent drumming performance based upon energetic, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics.

Kelsey Blackstone poured all her experience, knowledge, and talent into this cover. The entire song showcases so many interesting ideas that Arctic Monkey somehow missed when they recorded this track in 2007. If you’re still not convinced, wait until you hear hectic brass and keyboard solos right before the closure. These virtuosities will blow your mind. Besides so many brilliant ideas, exciting innovations, and exceptional musicianship, you’ll also notice that this version carries a sound quality that meets all the trends in modern music production. It emphasizes Blackstone’s incredible voice and uplifts all the instrumentations on an entirely new level. Also, this rendition of “505” continuously levitates between modern sleaze rock and seventies music, making it such a fresh and unique take on Arctic Monkeys’ classic. You should put this cover on your radar and check out the remainder of Kelsey Blackstone’s discography because she unquestionably deserves your utmost attention. The single is available on all streaming platforms.