LISTEN: Amanda Palmer And Rhiannon Giddens Unite For A Stunning Cover Of “It’s A Fire”
LISTEN: Amanda Palmer And Rhiannon Giddens Unite For A Stunning Cover Of “It’s A Fire”
All proceeds will go to the Free Black University Fund
Words by: Amanda Marano
Amanda Palmer and Rhiannon Giddens have joined forces for a stunning cover of Portishead’s “It’s A Fire.” The cinematic track has a warmth and depth that transcend speakers, and offer comfort and inspiration in such trying times.
The moving track was recorded from several continents during lockdown, with all profits will go to the Free Black University Fund, which exists to re-distribute knowledge and act as a space of incubation for the creation of transformative knowledge in the Black community.
When her There Will Be No Intermission World Tour concluded in March, Palmer found herself in regional New Zealand, half a world away from her home in New York. “I was craving comfort during lockdown, listening to Portishead’s Dummy over and over again in the kitchen of our AirBnB, where I’d wound up an accidental single mother. Bent over a pile of dirty dishes in the sink one day, after receiving a long series of texts from my desperately sad friends in New York…I stopped in my tracks,” she tells.
“Cause this life is a farce
I can’t breathe through this mask
Like a fool
So breathe on
sister breathe on”
“There is something about this song that speaks to a deeper connection between things happening right now,” Palmer continues. “Black Lives Mattering, COVID, fear and trust are all colliding with one another. I wanted this cover version to sound more like a dark closet talk between two friends, hanging onto each other for dear life whispering, ‘we’re gonna make it out of here.’”
Palmer collaborated with Jherek Bischof, who was locked down in Los Angeles, to arrange the song for ‘our times’, along with local string players in LA who all played in isolation from one another. A woman of many talents, Rhiannon Giddens [Nashville actress, Grammy winner, opera writer, and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient] had just finished her own Australian tour in March in support of her 2019 release There Is No Other, and found herself locked down in Ireland. “It was a delight to work on this with Amanda Palmer. It felt so good to make some art together, even separated by half a world. We all need to take a collective breath together, and breathe on…it’s all of us or none of us,” Giddens shares.
Finally, Palmer tracked down French illustrator Jessica Coppet, residing in Melbourne, Australia, to help design the single artwork. Jessica is known for her mesmerizing realistic scribble portraits. “Facial expression and anatomy have become a focal point for my art. Amanda wanted to portray two women supporting each other along with vintage and retro aspects to represent the inspiration for the song,” shares Jessica.
Melz Owusu of the Free Black University team says, “We are overjoyed at the generosity of Amanda and Rhiannon in choosing our project to give proceeds from this beautiful song to. The donation will go so far in us building a sustainable programme of radical education that aims to transform the world.”
