The Band: JEKYLL

The Release: ‘NIGHTPORTER’ (by Japan)

The Format: DIGITAL SINGLE

The Release Date: NOVEMBER 20TH 2020

The Digital Link: orcd.co/jekyll_nightporter

The Truth: back in the pandemic-stricken spring of 2020, when the fizzing coronavirus ensured that the playing of gigs suddenly became as practical as the flying of pigs, fierce panda asked its freshly incarcerated acts to choose a favourite tune by a.n.other band with which to rockdown in lockdown. These covers would form the Covid Version Sessions, casual home recordings designed to capture the unsettling mood of the moment, and now those recordings are all seeing the digital release light of day throughout the autumn.

Enter JEKYLL, four seaside rocking kids from Blackpool who still consist of Joel Foster (vocals / guitar), Lewis Armistead (bass), Liam Singleton (drums) and Mike Spence (guitar). We found them hurtling into the increasingly tumultuous ‘20s with the ‘The Whispering Gallery’ EP back in the spring, a five-track mini-opus which careered from epic darkrock palpitations to epic mellow ruminations. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, their Covid Version of choice is ‘Nightporter’ by moody ‘80s mascara-scarred artsynth models Japan:

“Having never committed a cover song to record before, we really wanted our first attempt to be something special. ‘Nightporter’ by Japan is a song I just always remember being there during my life and its hypnotic melancholy has always mesmerised me. The ethereal, Satie-esque piano, David Sylvian’s darkly-dreaming lyrics, and the sonic world-building are a huge inspiration on our own songwriting (the lyrics to our latest release, ‘The Escapist’, were very heavily inspired by Japan). In addition to this, with us all isolating in our hometown of Blackpool, ‘Nightporter’ felt particularly resonant and quite appropriate...
‘Here am I alone again / A quiet town where life begins’

“With our cover, we wanted to retain that same atmosphere but put our own spin on it. Every single sound you can hear on the track was recorded on our phones, from our separate homes, and mixed by our drummer, Liam. The reception to the cover was overwhelmingly positive and even the most ardent Japan fans let us know how much they loved it.”

JEKYLL’s nonchalant nocturnal take on ‘Nightporter’ is the fourth of the fierce panda Covid Version releases in the wake of woozy dreamboats MOON PANDA, who took The Strokes’ ‘Call It Fate, Call It Karma’ outside for a big cosmic cuddle, DESPERATE JOURNALIST’s fearless lunge at ‘The Fear’ by Pulp, and GHOST SUNS’ glowering stab at Nine Inch Nails’ classique ‘Hurt’ More CV tunes from CHINA BEARS and NATIONAL SERVICE coming soon…

JEKYLL LIVE:

FEBRUARY 21ST 2021 CAMDEN BLACK HEART
(Camden Calling 2021)

MAY 22ND 2021 BLACKPOOL BOOTLEG SOCIAL
(with Ist Ist)

www.facebook.com/jekyllband
www.fiercepanda.co.uk