William Crooks – quit + wolves (cover)

by: Michael Cooper Dec 27, 2017

Covers are seemingly a poor fit in electronic music. The extra latitude afforded artists when they choose to remix a track — inherently giving them license to veer from the original as much or as little as they please — is eminently attractive and become something of an industry standard. What remixes don’t provide, however, is a window in an artist’s process and those who have influenced their sound and style.

William Crooks‘ cover of Cashmere Cat‘s “Quit,” featuring Ariana Grande, and Kanye West‘s “Wolves,” produced by Cashmere Cat and Sinjin Hawke, however, manages to split the difference between remix and cover.

Crooks illuminates influences that only become obvious with his explicit acknowledgement, and add depth to his soulful brand of singer-songwriter take on club music. Indeed, Crooks eschews a massive rework of both tracks, instead opting to maintain their basic structure and immerse them in his emotive style of production, with lush synths and rumbling bass providing a foundation for slightly auto-tuned vocals.