Released last year through Wax Poetics Records, New York-based singer/songwriter Kendra Morris’ debut effort, Banshee was critically well-received with Morris being compared favorably to the likes of vocalists such as Adele, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse and interestingly enough, the legendary Janis Joplin. Mockingbird, her sophomore (and follow up) effort consists of Morris doing soulful interpretations of songs by Radiohead, Soundgarden, Lou Reed, Metallica, the Beach Boys, the Proclaimers, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and more. 

The latest single from Mockingbird is Morris’s rendition of The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” Whereas the original version of the song was a rousing, folk-based pop song, Morris’s rendition manages to possess a sultry yet moody seductiveness, as though Amy Winehouse recorded a secret and unreleased duo with Nick Cave. And in some way, Morris’s cover heightens the plaintive and urgent desire at the heart of the song but with a subtle sense of menace underneath the surface.