A respectful and largely loyal recitation of the Bacharach-David classic by the beloved Bulacan-based quartet, this version of “Close to You” doesn’t seek to reinvent the wheel. But it slaps nevertheless.
Covers are a slippery affair. The traditional view is that they can serve as tributes, updates, or reimaginings. Tributes I can get behind, the two others not so much.
The reason isn’t super hard to guess: some originals deserve to stand on a solitary hill, unmarred by attempts to hack away at it by well-meaning (but ultimately ill-performing) parties.
And don’t even get me started on updates or reimaginings. Let’s just shake on it: I won’t if you won’t (get started, I mean).
I guess what I’ve been trying to say for the last hundred words, in an admittedly roundabout way, is this: Give me a sincere tribute any day – one that keeps the soul of the material intact, one that’s selfless and devoid of ego, one that doesn’t wish to (unnecessarily) plant a flag.
You can tick off all these wonderful considerations in the new Orange and Lemons cover of “Close to You,” out today via this humble little label. The Burt Bacharach-Hal David classic – whose most popular rendition remains that one by The Carpenters’ – is given a respectful and largely loyal recitation by the Bulacan-based quartet.
“This is our very own and unique rendition that incorporates the sound of O&L while retaining the original appeal of the song,” the group confirms in an advance release, and that’s not just lip service. Their past covers – of Apo Hiking Society’s “Yakap sa Dilim,” for instance, or the Eraserheads’ “Huwag Kang Matakot” – have so much of them in it, but also not enough, because what bubbles on the surface is fan service, i.e., them being fans and tipping their hats to the material the best way they know how.
The arrangement is predicated on the band’s brand of less-is-more arrangement work, central to which is Clem Castro’s Britpop-style arpeggios and bright-and-brilliant clean-tone jangle. There are no major detours and there are hardly any reworkings, save for perhaps a few subtle swerves in melody, and they’re smart to do so.
A tune as recognizable as “Close to You” is like a sacred text, and any hopeful translators would do well to immerse in its core before committing anything to disc.
A long-time early live staple for O&L (they began including it in their sets in 1999), it was only last year when the band decided to do a proper recording of their arrangement. Fresh from the critical triumph that was ‘La Bulaquena,’ the band figured a surprise release like this is a great way to tide fans over as they toil away on their fifth record.
And what a tiding-over it is.
Clem is apparently a big Bacharach guy (he’s hosted a Bacharach night or two in the past), and the band imagines this could be a great taste test of a possible Bacharach comp. Who knows, we could be so lucky.