Charlie Hickey has shared his stripped back take on MGMT’s ‘Time To Pretend’.
The original single soundtracked a generation, with its wide-eyed optimism facing down the crushing boredom of so-called adult life. MGMT’s calling card, Charlie Hickey has long been a fan, and decided to cover it in his own inimitable fashion.
Having shared his album ‘Nervous At Night’ to widespread acclaim last year, Charlie Hickey returns with something new, just ahead of his North American tour kick-starting into life later this week.
Removing the varnish of the psych-pop original, ‘Time To Pretend’ becomes something slightly darker, more fatalistic, yet nonetheless determined. A simple but striking take on the song, it’s all held together by Charlie Hickey’s subtle, empathetic vocal.
He comments…
Ya know when things are so simply perfect that you almost take it for granted and forget a human made it? That’s kind of what this song is to me. I can only imagine that after they made this song in their college dorm room, they sat there and thought “we are going to be millionaires”.
It’s the kind of song that we all know every word to but the depth of them is far beyond what we might stop to consider. I think writing a song like this is my biggest goal as a songwriter and I hope someday I do it. Every time I hear a great pop song like this, I have the urge to strip it of everything and see if I can make people understand how great and emotional it is if they don’t already…
Tune in now.
