In 2015, Bristol trip-hop legends Portishead recorded a one-off cowl of ABBA’s ‘SOS’ for director Ben Wheatley’s movie Excessive-Rise. The music has remained a hidden gem of kinds as a result of the band opted to maintain it away from main streaming platforms.
Final yr, Portishead lastly determined to launch the music to the broader viewers however launched it solely on SoundCloud. They selected this feature versus releasing to giants like Spotify or Apple Music due to SoundCloud’s extra moral fan-powered royalties mannequin.
“Once we heard that SoundCloud switched to a fairer user-centric cost system of streaming music, we had been blissful to make it the one place to stream our unreleased model of ABBA’s ‘SOS’,” stated band member Geoff Barrow. “After recording it years in the past for Ben Wheatley’s movie Excessive-Rise, we’re excited to lastly share it with the world, and we’re much more excited that every one streaming earnings are going to an incredible trigger.”
“Portishead’s timeless sound has impressed numerous artists and given rise to many rising genres on SoundCloud,” Michael Pelczynski, Head of Content material & Rightsholder Technique at SoundCloud commented. “We’re honoured Portishead selected SoundCloud, the one platform the place the artist to fan connection is immediately rewarded, as the primary place to solely launch their cowl of this iconic music.”
Portishead have lengthy been recognized for his or her beneficiant nature. When releasing ‘SOS’ on SoundCloud, they introduced that every one proceeds can be donated to the psychological well being charity, ‘Thoughts’.
The trio haven’t carried out reside collectively in seven years and it has been 14 years since their final album, Third, was launched. Naturally, followers have turn out to be stressed over these years questioning if and when new materials may come.
This yr, a glimmer of hope has include the group reunifying for a brief set at Bristol’s O2 alongside a number of different acts in a particular fundraiser for the individuals of Ukraine. Whereas the band haven’t hinted at any additional performances or new materials, it offers us hope that the members are nonetheless on good phrases.
Take heed to Portishead’s eerie cowl of ABBA’s ‘SOS’ under.
