Jaded Hearts Club — the Los Angeles-via-U.K. all-covers supergroup featuring members of Muse, Blur, Jet and the Zutons — have dropped their new video for “I Put a Spell on You,” their spin on the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic that features on the band’s upcoming first studio LP You’ve Always Been Here.
“I’ve always loved Nina Simone’s version and the original version by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins,” Matt Bellamy, Muse frontman and Jaded Hearts Club bassist, tells Rolling Stone of the cover; along with Bellamy, the supergroup features Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, Last Shadow Puppets singer/guitarist Miles Kane, guitarist Jamie Davis, Jet singer Nic Cester and the Zutons drummer Sean Payne.
“I was surprised there isn’t already a rock version of ‘I Put A Spell on You’ out there,” Bellamy adds. “Muse did a rock version of ‘Feeling Good,” so I had an an idea of how to approach it. In particular I liked the idea of combining Hal Mooney’s chordal arrangement on Nina’s version with the more unhinged wild vocal style of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and Nic is one of the few singers around who could pull that off.”
The spooky video for “I Put a Spell on You” — which casts Cester as a Sixties cult leader — was inspired by “movies made by people like Dario Argento and other dark gothic Italian horror directors,” Coxon tells Rolling Stone.
The Jaded Hearts Club previously shared their take on the Marvin Gaye rarity “This Love Starved Heart of Mine (It’s Killing Me)” off You’ve Always Been Here, available to pre-order before its October 2nd release.
Jamie Davis — who previously ran Coxon’s label Transcopic Records — corralled the supergroup back in 2017 after he sought a Beatles cover band to play his birthday party, but decided instead to form his own with his talented friends. The Jaded Hearts Club have since held occasional concerts focusing on British Invasion-era tracks — including one gig with special guest Paul McCartney — before deciding to cut an album of Northern Soul classics alongside the music that sparked early Sixties rock n’ roll.
“We wanted to go deeper into the American blues/rock n roll music that inspired early Beatles in the first place,” Bellamy says, adding that You’ve Always Been Here’s lone Beatles track, “Money (That’s What I Want),” was first a Barrett Strong Motown hit. “We had no agenda other than to play great music together, and sometimes it’s good to be reminded of that simple pleasure.”
Coxon and Bellamy both admit that playing with a supergroup is a lot more freeing than their arena-packing day jobs with Blur and Muse respectively.
“It’s a lot more organized,” Coxon says. “There’s less working inside jam sessions (obviously because the songs have already been written) and more working on parts and how they will complement each other and give good space and dynamics to the song.”
Bellamy, who also co-produced You’ve Always Been Here, added, “It’s nice being able to focus on producing and not writing. Plus not being the front man is a great relief as I can party as hard as I want and not have to worry about preserving my voice for the next show.”
From Rolling Stone US
