For their first album in five years, INXS are “reimagining” their classic hits with different arrangements and singers, including Ben Harper, Rob Thomas and the Killers’ Brandon Flowers. The still-untitled release is slated for the fall.
” ‘Original Sin’ with Rob Thomas almost has a Cuban connection with some Spanish rap in it. That was really exciting,” drummer Jon Farris tells Rolling Stone, adding that Thomas also recorded a version of “Never Tear Us Apart.” He says many backing tracks were laid down in London with most of the London Symphony Orchestra, “So that is really rich and juicy and almost has a James Bond-y sort of rhythm bed along with that. So it was the juxtaposition of the classic and Sixties’ secret agent.”
Brandon Flowers did a “really beautiful, heart-wrenching rendition” of “Beautiful Girl” when the Killers were in Australia for V-Fest. Ben Harper sang “Devil Inside” when INXS were in L.A. before Christmas. Nikka Costa and Tricky have also “been involved,” although Farriss won’t say on which tracks. He is also trying to “prepare” a song for Argentina’s Deborah de Corral so she can sing one in Spanish and English.
“Everyone who sings on the stuff has their own style, their own take on things, and that’s why it’s so wonderful,” Farriss adds, saying that the band took a bit of a breather after their worldwide tour with Rockstar: INXS winner J.D. Fortune supporting 2005’s Switch. Fortune went to the media last year saying he was homeless and bandless after being dismissed from INXS “with a handshake” at an airport; he later said he simply hadn’t heard from the band in 10 months.
Farriss acknowledges the members of INXS were “disappointe...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily