When the idea was pitched to have some b-sides for the “Spanner In The Works” single, I immediately got the idea of recording a few covers live in the studio. I love playing covers! To me, it’s a statement of my ongoing love affair with all sorts of music that have inspired me through the years; to inhabit songs you love with your own personality!
Me, Andreas, and Nino (often bass & drums with SunYears) actually have a full-on covers project where we mostly do old soul, R&B, and rock ’n’ roll — a great party band essentially. The border thus sometimes becomes a bit fluid between the two projects, and we can throw in a nugget or two from the vast covers repertoire in the encore of a SunYears show if we like. The stylistic range of what can be covered by SunYears includes other stuff though, than what might fit the party outfit.
Sandy Denny’s “Like an Old Fashioned Waltz”.
Before Peter Bjorn and John became a sustainable day job, I was studying to become a librarian — or, as it fancifully was called, an information scientist. “Writer’s Block” got in the way, and I never finished my degree. However, I met some nice people, among them author Mats Kempe, who also had a background in garage rock. A couple of years ago, he contacted me and asked if I wanted to play a couple of Sandy Denny covers at an event he was organizing. Why? He had written a novel which was partly inspired by Sandy’s life and music, called The Sea, named after her song. A great book… only in Swedish so far, unfortunately. He couldn’t have known, though, how much of a Sandy fan I was.
British folk and folk rock from the ’60s and ’70s have been one of the cornerstones of my musical taste for at least 25 years. And I keep falling back into that gene pool, getting new inspiration for guitar playing, moods, and style of writing. In a scene full of vastly inspired and talented players, writers, and interpreters of traditional or other people’s songs, Sandy was undoubtedly one of the brightest shining lights. One of the best, most original writers of the bunch, and maybe the best, most captivating voice of them all. One of my all-time favorite singers overall. I eventually sang “Fotheringay” and “Like an Old Fashioned Waltz” that night. A bit later, the great pedal steel player Roger Gustafsson invited me to guest at his club at a suburban Stockholm cinema where he plays with musical guests. I sent him some originals and some covers we could try, and “Like an Old Fashioned Waltz” felt like a perfect fit. I do love a waltz-time gem, and this is just such a beautiful, yearning lyric and melody.
After that night, I just couldn’t stop playing it and started doing it at SunYears shows, and people seemed to really like our version. We made it our own! The trio here is recorded live, including vocal, but I overdubbed acoustic guitar — and to complete the circle, Roger played wonderful pedal steel!
David Bowie’s “Absolute Beginners”
The same setup was used for this: trio live with live vocals, overdubbed acoustic guitars from me, piano and percussion from Nino, and pedal steel from Roger, completing a very hazy, dreamy take on this classic — quite far off from the boisterous original 1980s version. The pedal steel kind of takes the place of the rockish sax, a very different sound. I always loved the idea of taking a song from that very specific sound era and stripping it back to something more laid-back and rootsy, just showing how strong the material still is. Of course, you have to love the song in itself to pull that off. And I have loved “Absolute Beginners” since it was released when I was a little boy. It always spoke to me profoundly; I have always been deeply touched by it. The fantastic form which keeps shifting and building, the chords, the melody, the words — high drama and so much emotion. I think maybe because that period wasn’t Bowie’s most lauded, it sometimes gets overlooked. To me, it is a shiny pearl of a composition and, as a pure song, one of his very best and most eternal. I always dreamt of singing it. But it seemed so tricky.
After Bowie sadly passed, I was one of the organizers behind a charity tribute concert at Södra Teatern in Stockholm, and the chance finally came. After that, I have kept dipping into this song now and again, and it feels lovely to have captured the passion we feel for it on tape. Hope you all enjoy! Extra points to Andreas’ gorgeous harmony singing on both numbers here — and to our mate Ruben Engzell at Studio Skutan who recorded and mixed it all!
Credits
Release: 2025-06-19 (June 19, 2025)
Catalogue number: VLL72
© & ℗: 2025 SunYears under exclusive license to Villa
Spanner In The Works
Written by: Peter Morén
Produced by: Peter Morén
Engineered by: Hans Stenlund at INGRID Studios
Mixed by: Niklas Berglöf
Mastered by: Magnus Lindberg
Peter Morén: Lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, melodica
Andreas Nordell: Electric bass, backing vocals
Kyle Crane: Drums and percussion
Like An Old Fashioned Waltz (Sandy Denny cover)
Written by: Sandy Denny
Produced by: Peter Morén and Ruben Engzell
Engineered by: Ruben Engzell and Roger Gustafsson
Mixed by: Ruben Engzell
Mastered by: Magnus Lindberg
Peter Morén: Lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Andreas Nordell: Double bass, backing vocals
Nino Keller: Drums
Roger Gustafsson: Pedal steel guitar
Absolute Beginners (David Bowie cover)
Written by: David Bowie
Produced by: Peter Morén and Ruben Engzell
Engineered by: Ruben Engzell and Roger Gustafsson
Mixed by: Ruben Engzell
Mastered by: Magnus Lindberg
Peter Morén: Lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitars
Andreas Nordell: Double bass, electric bass, harmony vocals
Nino Keller: Drums, percussion, piano
Roger Gustafsson: Pedal steel guitar
