Imandra Lake - Ilus Aeg (7" vinyl)

On this 7” Scots composer Bill Wells (the man jointly responsible for last year’s “Scottish Album of the Year” with good old A-Mo) and Japanese peacemongers Tenniscoats each offer their takes on Estonian dreampop/indie-folksters Imandra Lake’s (two of Pia Fraus) ‘Ilus Aeg’. These seem to be cover versions rather than just remixes. On the A side we’ve got Bill Wells with a slightly jazzy, dreamy version with wistful girl vocals and tasteful harp flourishes. At first I thought the 7” was mislabelled and this was the Tenniscoats version, such is the plaintive, pretty simplicity of the cut, but there’s a soundtracky depth and warmth to the textures which will reward repeated listens.

On the flip, Tenniscoats pare the song back even further to a bare bones guitar and vocal meditation where they have interpreted the original’s vocals phonetically rather than learning the Estonian. There’s some gorgeous harmonies towards the end and all. Very pretty interpretations on both sides here.