Celine Dion is the latest artist to participate in a Spotify Singles release, where artists share a new version of one of their signature tracks along with a cover of a song by another artist.
For her track, Dion chose “Imperfections,” one of the singles from her November 2019 album Courage. But way more exciting, the cover she chose is Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game,” and Isaak himself hopped on the track to perform backing vocals for the Canadian singer.
Recorded at New York’s Electric Lady Studios, Dion’s “Wicked Game” captures the spirit of Isaak’s original sensual track with a little Celine flourish. Her intonations on the first verse are a bit freestyle, but she then proceeds to give one of the more subtle — and beautiful — vocal performances of her career. It’s the Goldilocks amount of Celine energy: not too little, not too much.
“I chose ‘Wicked Game’ for my Spotify Singles because it’s one of my favorite songs of all time for many, many, many reasons,” Dion said. “But also I love the black and white music video for the song, of Chris Isaak and Helena Christensen on the beach…I wanted to respect the original version, which I still think is perfection.”
Isaak wrote: “At last! When I heard Celine singing there was a big smile on my face. It’s just fun to hear her sing…somebody said about Fred Astaire‘s dancing ‘he makes it look so easy’… Celine makes it sound so effortless.”
Dion is currently on tour for Courage through April 27th. Last month, she performed “Over the Rainbow” at a Miami concert as a tribute to her mother, who had just passed away; she was 92 years old.
