Australian musician Alex Lahey has shared her new version of the Skyhooks classic Ego Is Not A Dirty Word.
The new recording is a the latest is a series of releases to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Australia’s Mushroom Records with today’s artists delivering their take on classic tunes released by the label over the last five decades.
The new track comes as EGO: The Michael Gudinski Story arrives in Australia cinemas sharing the story of the record label’s late founder.
Originally recorded by Skyhooks the song was title track from their second album which came out in 1975. It went to number two in the Australian charts and was the 19th most popular song of the year.
Lahey noted that the song is quite a tricky one to record.
“This song has so much energy and passion. I don’t think I could ever conceive a song like this with all its unpredictable twists and turns.” Lahey said.
Tasked with taking one of the original Mushroom smash hits and transforming into something both reminiscent of the original but contemporary in its execution, Alex Lahey leaned into the eccentricities of Skyhooks as a guiding star.
“Because the original recording is almost 50 years old, I wanted to take a modern approach to the recording. I looked to capture the same raucousness of the original performance in a more high-fidelity format. It was important to me to retain the complexities and character of the original recording, but with a 21st century clarity and shine.”
Take a listen to the new version.
So far in her career Lahey has released three albums. Her debut I Love You Like a Brother came out in 2017. Two years later she followed it up with The Best of Luck Club. Her latest album The Answer is Always Yes was released this year.
Lahey identifies as gay, her partner is singer Gordi.
Alex Lahey is not the first queer singer to take on the classic track. Perth’s Dean Misdale recorded a dance version of the same song back in 2015 turning it a four-to-the-floor thumper.
OIP Staff
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