Laibach have covered Leonard Cohen’s 1992 track ‘The Future’.
Covers of Leonard Cohen songs are often unfortunate affairs with even the greats coming across like recently divorced coffee shop singer songwriters at an open night as they strip all the strange magnificence from the material to come up with something cloying and sentimental. The best versions are often the oddest, such as Coil’s take on ‘Who By Fire’ or The Jesus & Mary Chain’s chugging and noisy ‘Tower Of Song’. Added to this list is Laibach’s take on ‘The Future’, which turns the original into an apocalyptic banger.
Coinciding with the sixth anniversary of Cohen’s death, the track’s unveiling comes ahead of the release in January of new dystopia-themed EP Love Is Still Alive. You can watch a video for ‘The Future’ above.
Speaking about their cover, Laibach said: "’The Future’ is dark and funny. If I’d have nailed that to the church door like Martin Luther it’d be a very sinister document. But it’s married to a hot little dance track so, in a sense, the words melt into the music and the music melts into the words and you’re left with a kind of refreshment, a kind of oxygen."
Press materials add that the band’s decision to reinterpret the track has been brewing for several years, as they were "looking for something that would, with great weight, describe the current state of the Zeitgeist in which humanity has found itself."
‘The Future’ is out now on Mute.
