angels twenty - return home

Petra Haden
God Only Knows

If you’re not already convinced by Petra Haden’s uncanny ability to mimic an entire symphony of guitars, drums, horns and other assorted instruments, here’s the latest from her camp: a cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” recorded in a single afternoon. Since she put it on her site a while back, it’s gotten a fair amount of attention from the likes of Entertainment Weekly and the Globe and Mail. It’ll be interesting to see what she does if and when she decides to return to writing her own material; Haden’s gotten better at her acapella escapades since last year’s Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out, and “God Only Knows” is the most natural-sounding translation she’s put to tape yet. At this point, I can only guess that her next album of original material will represent a quantum leap over the still-charming Imaginaryland.

Though she could probably milk the covers angle a little more—for an extra treat, check out her version of “Thriller.” Yes, that Thriller.

2 Responses

what a brilliant cover - thanks for bringing it to my attention!

cheers,
Gurg :)

I just herd her last week on world cafe on or about 11/25/06. Nice touch I must say I liked the acapella concept.