Single Review: Natalie Imbruglia – ‘Instant Crush’
2 min read
Natalie is back, and with her first single in six years being a Daft Punk cover, it’s a really bold move. Instant Crush is taken from her upcoming covers album entitled Male, and her take on the French Robots and Julian Casablancas’ track is actually pulled off with relative ease.
With the original song not actually being that old, something quite different would have to be done with it: this has been achieved. In a reversal of roles used on a lot of covers, Natalie actually takes away the synths, electro and auto-tune style of the original and replaces it with classic instruments and a ballad mentality. In fact the only thing that may remind you of Daft Punk would be the drums. Not necessarily from the original version of Instant Crush, but the drums do sound like something from many of the tracks on Daft Punk album Random Access Memories.
Gentle guitar leads into pleasant bass, which builds up to a strong chorus and invites the listener in with its fast-paced vocals; this creates a great contrast against the slower verses and makes a solid base for the track.
Everything comes together on this version to make something sounding intensely personal and highly likeable. The drums hold the track together well, and with Natalie’s vocals taking on a slightly deeper and atmospheric feel since earlier work, they really help settle the track down into a nice groove.
Instant Crush’s inventiveness and method of dissecting and reconstructing a great song really whets the appetite for the new covers album. And if it has anything as good as this on it, it’s going to be something to look forward to.
