Calling Tom Wills and Sholz-Y’s LAID simply a cover is something of a disservice. From its opening moments, this reimagination of James’ 1993 classic is unafraid to become something wholly new while retaining what made the original tick: that sense of mischief, the brazenness, that queer energy running throughout, subverting expectations of what love “should” be like. On their version, Wills and Sholz-Y have taken the contrast between nerves and carefreeness that the original so delicately balances, and flipped it to create a synth-forward track that feels made for hot summer nights on the dance floor, without a care in the world.
Wills’ vocals are an immediate stand-out on this track. Clean and clear, they slice through the melodic synths and house beats to deliver an experience that captures the original's exhilaration – the feeling of beginning to expand your horizons and figuring yourself out – and builds on it to create something that lets you experience the same feeling from a different perspective. In lockstep with it all, of course, is Sholz-Y’s production. It’s sleek and vast, containing all the multitudes of a love that oscillates wildly between passion, anger, longing, jealousy; it shows that both Wills and Sholz-Y have internalised the song, sat with it, and unravelled what it means to them before jumping into what must have been an absolute blast of a recording session.
Genuine, freeing, and celebratory, this track confidently proves that intelligent reinterpretations of classics can create something vivid and alive. Give Tom Wills and Sholz-Y’s LAID a listen here!