Earlier this year, Passenger released a collection of covers titled “Sunday Night Sessions”.

I tend to be picky when it comes to covers. Yes, YouTubers are really good at singing their version of popular songs. What I’m looking and enjoy listening to, however, are those who can express their unique style. That’s their edge to becoming popular, right. I mean, in the music industry, the best way to get ahead is to have a good and unique music style.

I have this weakness when it comes to popular artists who do their version of the songs that I fond of listening to. (Thus, the reason why tracks from Radio 1’s Live Lounge albums get a lot of play counts on my iTunes. See, I love covers.)

The guy who popularized “Let Her Go” and “Circles” has crooned his way into my heart. With just his voice and the strings of his acoustic instruments come a very refreshing and mesmerizing music that have always affected my mood in a good way.

I’m a bit of a music completist (people who downloads/buys the complete discography of their favorite artists) that when I saw in Metacritic that Passenger released this collection of covers, I had nothing but pure excitement to get a copy.

Best Tracks

Passenger started his album with what I think is the best cover in the batch: Hotel California. Admit it, we are used to hearing this song the original way. Some of us might have once sung this over the karaoke. So far, personally, no one has beaten the original yet. I wouldn’t say that Passenger’s version is better than The Eagles’, but it comes close by giving a refreshing and sentimental feel to it.

His version of a Neil Young song is also one of my favorites here. Heart of Gold isn’t that popular here in the Philippines. Passenger introduced that song to me so I gladly downloaded the original version. After listening to the Neil Young version, I came to a realization: There’s one thing that’s common among the covers in this album, Passenger mixed in his styles but kept the songs as they are. He didn’t try to overdo them, which is nice and very respectful to the music geniuses who popularized the songs.

Lastly, Love Will Tear Us Apart, o

ne of all time’s best rock and roll song, has been staying on my playlist for so long. I have just played it again months ago upon finding out that this is Keanu Reeves’ favorite song (via Reddit’s AMA). Well, Passenger did a good job with it. I like listening to his version more than Joy Divisions’. His acoustic greatness and soothing voice gave the song the right feel… Like the song has more meaning after listening to it.

Judgement

Sunday Night Sessions is a great mood setter for me. It’s the perfect companion to daily morning routines, especially when commuting. [I think it’ll calm you out from the stress of queueing at MRT stations or long bus rides going to work.]

The album is magical, in a way that each of the songs brings its listeners to a mixture of different feelings and emotions more than the original one does. You will smile. You’ll feel sad. You’ll reminisce the moments you’ve associated the songs from.

Album Rating

4.83/5 stars

Alternatives

Jack Johnson • All The Lights Above It Too [4.83 stars]

Angus & Julia Stone • Snow [4.08 stars]

Thomas Rhett • Life Changes [4.50 stars]