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Apr 23, 2021 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Calm Eliott-Armstrong

Toronto indie duo Orson Wilds, fronted by Eric Reid and Brianna Bordihn, may be in their early years as a band but they’ve already gained a big fan in producer Will Yip (Code Orange, Title Fight, Mannequin Pussy). Newly signed to Yip’s Black Cement Records imprint, the band put out their debut singles last year, “Stand Up” and “Mothers Daughters.” While we wait for more news of their forthcoming debut record the band have been sharing covers, first of last year’s Phoebe Bridgers track “Kyoto” and now of The Microphones’ “I Felt Your Shape,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“I Felt Your Shape” will likely need no introduction as one of the highlights of what is arguably Phil Elverum’s best-remembered album, The Glow Pt. 2. The band’s clear love for the enduring classic shines through on their cover, neither hewing too closely to the stripped-back folk of the original or polishing the track so much that they lose its raw allure. Much like the band’s “Kyoto” cover, the duo leans into an animated live band feel, full of affecting emotion and a dynamic indie rock rush.

“The original recording is one of the perfect encapsulations of what makes The Microphones / Mount Eerie / Phil Elverum so affecting,” Eric Reid says. It’s laid bare and it feels like a sketch of an idea of something that could never be properly articulated through human language. If there was any reason to cover it, it would be in hopes of someone hearing it and then going and discovering The Microphones for the first time. So, I suppose that’s why we covered it.”

Brianna Bordihn continues, “We recorded everything in one take for this in hopes of capturing our own imperfections, including the video where I sat in the back seat of our since-totaled Hyundai Elantra, delirious from lack of sleep trying to sing to the song slowed down by 200% while Eric drove from the Danforth bridge to the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto. Vince Ratti mixed it in a few hours on some of his old analogue gear. Will Yip mastered it. We hope it sounds like a busy mind driving down the highway trying to make sense of things.” Check out the song and video below.