Deciding who and what to spotlight often leaves me feeling like a deer frozen in the middle of the street while an SUV barrels at me. Should I choose a little-known artist or album? Go with a mainstream release? Pick a forthcoming, new or semi-recent title? Each of those things drives traffic (or not) to the blog, and while I’m not all about numbers, it’s a nice ego boost to see the hits racking up. More importantly, perhaps, is this: Can I craft a comical (some might say “silly”) lede that references time travel, parallel universes, poetry, and/or comma chameleons? (Oxford v. AP, what say you?) Such questions of a thousand dreams linger until I commit, always, and even sometimes after.
The Wandering Hearts, for those not in the know, are a UK-based Americana/folk group that’s been at it for a decade now, beginning when A.J. Dean, Tim Prottey-Jones, Francesca “Chess” Whiffin, and Tara Wilcox joined forces over gins and tonic. Their debut, released in 2018, was well-received, as was the tour that followed, but—for whatever reason—Prottery-Jones soon departed. COVID Interruptus then came into play, with their sophomore set stalled until August 2021. A spurt of releases and, for Whiffin and Wilcox, children soon followed; last year’s Mother almost landed in these pages, but—for the quixotic reasons outlined in the first paragraph—didn’t make my cut.
Flash forward to yesterday morning, when I was grooving through Apple Music’s weekly New Music Mix: A cover of Neil Young’s “Helpless” breezed from the speakers as if a prairie wind. Huh? What? A quick Internet research returned this from the trio’s website: “Tackling a song from one of the all-time seminal albums would be a ballsy move. Reinterpreting the whole of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 1970 touchstone Déjà Vu? That’s either outrageous courage or complete foolishness.” Cover songs and albums have long been common, of course, while cover albums of just one album are few and far between—for good reason. Why listen to a facsimile when the real thing can be had?
My first play of Déjà Vu (We Have All Been Here Before), which was released in June, came yesterday afternoon; I’m now on what must be my 20th time through. It’s not a note-for-note redo, but close, with the biggest difference being the vocals. Dean, who sings lead on several tracks, possesses a gritty hue that’s somewhat similar to Stephen Stills’, just huskier, while Whiffin and Wilcox add both lightness and verve when they step to the fore. “Carry On,” which was once a theme song of mine, rolls out much as the CSNY version—i.e., with harmonies galore. “Almost Cut My Hair” takes on new depth when sung by Wilcox, while Whiffin’s rendition of “Helpless” is otherworldly. Their rendition of “Our House” and “Country Girl” are likewise magical. The closing “Everybody I Love You,” for its part, trades the Stills-Young guitar interplay for harmonies and joy; it’s two-and-half minutes of unadulterated bliss.
The renditions aren’t better than the originals, mind you, but also aren’t facsimiles. They’re love letters, in a way, that somehow brought back memories of when I discovered the CSNY LP. (As I note here, I first heard it as creaky nostalgia fodder until, after more listens, my cassette copy became a constant companion to my Walkman clone.) It’s like listening to a favorite album through the ears of another, if that makes sense.
(The album can be streamed from the usual suspects, while LPs/CDs can be bought from various online stores and the group’s own web store.)
The tracks:
The Old Grey Cat 
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