Watch Finneas’ soulful cover of Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’
Finneas has covered Radiohead‘s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. Check it out below.
- READ MORE: On The Cover – Finneas: “I don’t know anything as strong as mine and Billie’s creative bond”
Last year, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke revealed that he cried when he first heard ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ played back to him, and said that seeing Jeff Buckley live helped him embrace and get comfortable with his voice on the track when recording it in 1995.
Since then, a host of musicians have shared their take on the song. In 2012, Frank Ocean covered the anthem at a Spotify event in New York, Kelly Clarkson shared a full studio version of the song in 2022 and, in 2020, Phoebe Bridgers and Arlo Parks teamed up to perform a piano version.
Paramore‘s Hayley Williams also covered the track in “admiration of one of the best bands of all time”, and Holly Humberstone released her own acoustic version in 2020.
Now, Finneas has shared his take on the seminal hit in a new Live Lounge performance. Alone with a piano, Finneas gives the 1995 track a haunting, soulful feel. Check it out below.
It follows Yorke’s praise of Finneas’s sister and creative partner Billie Eilish, when he revealed he was a fan of the singer: “She’s doing her own thing. Nobody’s telling her what to do,” he said. Finneas later described the comment to Eilish as “the coolest thing anyone’s ever said to you.”
Finneas is the latest to perform in the iconic Live Lounge. Last week Fontaines D.C. took on Lana Del Rey’s ‘Say Yes To Heaven’, while Dua Lipa performed a cover of Cleo Sol‘s ‘Sunshine’ in May.
Elsewhere, Sabrina Carpenter shared her version of Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, and The Last Dinner Party performed a cover of Troye Sivan‘s ‘One Of Your Girls’ for their Live Lounge debut.
In other news, Finneas recently announced a tour in celebration of his newly released second album ‘For Cryin’ Out Loud’. You can find a full list of dates here, and visit here for US and European tickets, here for Australia dates, and here for UK tickets.
It follows his contributions to his sister Billie Eilish’s third studio album ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’, and his second Academy Award win for ‘What Was I Made For’, which he co-wrote and produced for the Barbie soundtrack.
The producer and musician is also making his television scoring debut, working on the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series Disclaimer.
In a four-star review of the Billie Eilish LP, NME shared: “‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’ remains distinctly unique, a portrait of a singular talent entering young adulthood, exploring her queerness and experiencing the emotional thrill and (sometimes) catastrophe of chasing passion or falling in love. In trying to write an album for herself, she’s made one that will resonate harder than anything she’s done before.”
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Laura Molloy
NME