The White Swan is the project fronted by Kittie drummer Mercedes Lander, and while Kittie hailed from the early 2000s nu metal scene and went on to dabble in groove & death metal, alt-rock, and more, The White Swan are more of the psychedelic, atmospheric post-metal variety -- fans of Neurosis, Kylesa, Hum, Deftones, etc should take note.

The trio -- rounded out by Kira Longeuay and Shane Jeffers (Bloodmoon Collective) -- will release their Nocturnal Transmission EP on September 18 via War Crime Recordings (pre-order). It features three original songs and a cover of "Tell It To The Sky" off Tracy Bonham's 1996 alt-rock classic The Burdens of Being Upright, and we're premiering that cover.

"I've always thought that ‘Tell It To The Sky’ was a fantastically well written song," Mercedes tells us. " always try to really think outside the box when it comes to choosing covers and I tend to pick songs that you wouldn't expect a band like The White Swan would cover. Tracy Bonham's The Burdens of Being Upright was released the same year I started playing drums and started my first band and this was my favourite song from that record when it was released. I did my best to capture the soaring vocal melodies and we added some layered EBow for the verses which creates a bit of a darker vibe from the original."

Mercedes does indeed do a fine job of both capturing the soaring vocal melodies and making the song a little darker. It's a great cover, a nice mix of faithfulness to the original and adding something new. Listen below.

Watch the video for lead single/opening track "In Love and Ritual" too:

Tracklist
1. In Love And Ritual
2. Nocturnal Transmission
3. Purple
4. Tell It To The Sky (Tracy Bonham cover)

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