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May 13, 2021 By Caleb Campbell

Canadian and First Nations musician Zoon made his debut in 2020 with Bleached Wavves, a dense exploration of shoegaze pop and sounds drawn from First Nations’ music. Coined “moccasin-gaze” by Zoon, his inventive intersection of sounds earned him praise last year and Zoon is now back this year with new music on the way and a fresh cover of Beck’s “Round The Bend,” premiering with Under the Radar.

Covering a creative innovator like Beck makes a good match for Zoon, especially given Beck’s tendency for changing up his sound. “Round The Bend” was one of the hypnotic highlights of Beck’s 2002 record Sea Change, a dense string-backed track that earned plenty of comparisons with Nick Drake. In Zoon’s hands though, it takes a more cracked and discordant turn from the pristine allure of the original. While just as haunting and ethereal, Zoon’s take feels subtly darker, a slightly off-center recreation that nonetheless holds onto the despondent center of the track.

Zoon explains of the track, “Growing up in my hometown of Selkirk, Manitoba, it was really hard to find new music that resonated with me, until one day someone introduced me to Nick Drake and I had hoped it was a new artist. Shortly after I found out he had passed away in the early 70’s and I was pretty upset. I was explaining to a friend my frustration and they told me to check out Beck’s album, Sea Change and after my first listen I was so moved and at the time I was going through a pretty bad break up and this album helped me process my depression. Throughout my time away from music I’d always have a copy beside me; it kept inspiring me that I could try any kind of music style. I chose “Round The Bend” because it was like a contemporary Nick Drake song.”

Check out the song below and listen to Bleached Wavves, out now via Paper Bag Records.