I've been mostly keeping up with my William Elliott Whitmore collection, although that is more through coincidence than any actual plan - his records just seem to appear in shops without me having much or any knowledge that they're coming out; as far as I'm aware, there's no social media to keep an eye on for news of releases, so I'll just have to keep relying record shops putting the records in front of my eyes (quite literally, in this case).
This was one such record. I had no idea it was being released and still know very little about it (like who Esme Patterson is, how this split came to be or when it came out). I saw it at the front of the box of 7"s in Truck one day - I don't tend to browse the 7"s much these days because there's not often much I'm after on 7" and they're getting very expensive (also, the box in on the floor at Truck, so I have to get right down to browse it). Had it not been at the front and bright yellow I almost certainly wouldn't have seen it. It was as expensive as I've come to expect 7"s to be (£7), but I bought it anyway.
Will covers Esme's Elysium and makes it sound like it could be one of his own, albeit one of his slower ones. That said, with such a voice I'd like to hear a song he couldn't make sound like one of his own. Esme covers Will's Not Feeling Any Pain which sounds lovely. Her voice adds a different dimension to the song and makes it sound more positive than Will's original. I don't know their respective ages, but as sung by a young-sounding woman instead of an old-sounding man, the song is very hopeful, which is nice. That's the sign of a good cover, one that makes you think of a song in a different light. I'm glad I found this 7" - it very easily could have slipped me by.
Format: 7"
Tracks: 2
Cost: £7 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 20/01/17
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code
