I tend to approach self-cover projects with much caution - what was so wrong with the tracks in the first place that an artist feels they have to rework them from the ground up? Surely if it didn’t work the first time ‘round then the second time’s not gonna make much of a difference? I don’t really buy the ‘finding a new perspective’ excuse…maybe you can just put this down to the fact that I really don’t like people dicking around with songs that I love. Mini-rant over!

Can’t say I was aware at all that BONNIE PINK was planning an album of self-covers before I saw it at the listening posts at Tower Records…and my initial reaction was ‘Oh boy’. I didn’t think too highly of her album of covers of other artists’s songs a couple of years ago, and I’m not sure I think that highly of Back Room either. Not when a song as gleefully joyous as Paradiddle-free gets turned into some bizarre mock-Motown/doo-wop sing-a-long. It’s fairly excruciating to listen to.

My biggest concerns were over the two tracks I consider to be amongst my top 5 BONNIE PINK songs - Last Kiss and Tonight, The Night…and I’m sad to say neither cover passed muster, the former’s lullaby arrangement and the latter’s mellowed-out acoustic feel totally sucking the life and energy from the originals.

Godddd. I really love your dear Ms Asada but surely you should know better than to touch songs that were sacred in their first form. I mean, when even JUJU can cover Last Kiss better than you can…

If you don’t mind, I shall just go back and listen to Even So by my lonesome self…