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Boyce Avenue’s best covers
Before Boyce Avenue land in New Zealand in February we take a look at some of our favourite covers.
There’s a magic in creating a good cover of a song. One that sounds fresh, that still features everything you love about the original version but also sounds like an entirely new song. The art is made even harder when you choose to cover some of the biggest songs in the world.
American trio Boyce Avenue have built a career out of doing just that. After establishing a legion of dedicated fans all around the world through their Youtube channel, they’ve spent the last decade touring the world, packing out venues and arenas everywhere they go.
While we prepare for them to land in Auckland’s The Powerstation we’re counting down the Boyce Avenue covers we hope they might include in their New Zealand setlist.
Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop
Heading back to 2013, this cover (featuring singer-songwriter Bea Miller) has been seen almost 190 million times and that’s because it is brilliant. Stripping back Miley Cyrus’ party anthem to a gentle acoustic floater is exactly what we needed.
Justin Timberlake – Mirrors
We love JT and Mirrors is one of his smoothes hits. Throw in our fave gals from Fifth Harmony and you have the perfect cover. There are literal harmonies for days here.
Ed Sheeran – Photograph
Two years later and Bea Miller is back, this time covering Ed Sheeran’s gorgeous Photograph. They’ve stayed pretty true to the original here, but we are complaining because it’s beautiful.
Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man
And Fifth Harmony are back again because we can’t stop talking about these harmonies. Truly heartbreaking stuff and we want more.
Christina Perri – A Thousand Years
Want to impress the one you love – just play them this cover, it’s an absolute heart melter.
Tracey Chapman – Fast Car
This song made a bit of a resurgence a couple of years ago thanks to a couple of dance music covers, but Tracey Chapman’s hit definitely deserves this stripped-back, almost-true-to-form acoustic treatment. Kina Grannis’ guest vocals take it to the next level.
Coldplay – Fix You
Let’s not even try and pretend that we all haven’t attempted our own cover versions of this song. Luckily Boyce Avenue’s is wwwaayyy better than anything we could pull together ourselves.
One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
Turning a huge pop jam into a sweet acoustic number – when it’s done this well, it’s always a yes from us.
Gotye ft Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know
Of course, we had to throw in some Aussie love. Somehow Boyce Avenue have made this song feel even sadder and more heartbreaking than the original. Not sure how they did it, but we are here for it anyway.
U2 – With or Without You
We all studied Looking For Alibrandi in High School, right? We all cried in English class to this song right?
Boyce Avenue will perform at Auckland’s Power Station on Tuesday 5 February. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.co.nz.
