Hamish Hawk to cover Madonna, Pet Shop Boys and Eurythmics on new covers EP

"I had the idea to cover Madge a few albums back and I suppose I've been looking for my moment. "Burning Up" seemed to slot perfectly into place after "A Firmer Hand". For me, it always had to be her self-titled record - there's rare magic in that drum machine. "Burning Up" gave me so much to play with too; it's stylish, lusty, with a hint of darkness. We've gone and indified proceedings - hope she'd approve!

"Burning Up" has been a favourite within the band for a while now, and Madonna has given us our fair share of inspiration, so it's only right to make inroads towards repaying the debt. It's certainly wonkier than the original, but that sounds about right to me. I went for it with a hot and heavy vocal. I think Madge has me beat there, maybe."

Hamish Hawk and his band have put out a covers EP before, one that included versions of songs by Leonard Cohen, The Smiths and more. This time round Hamish and the band have rendered songs they admire from the likes of The Pet Shop Boys (whose Neil Tennant is an admirer of Hamish's songwriting in return), Angel Olsen, The Eurythmics and even Sheryl Crow.

"We knew pretty soon after recording our first EP of covers that it wouldn't be long before we got the itch to do it all over again. Tackling covers flexes an entirely different of muscles, and it's good to get a bit of exercise now and then. We had a whole host to choose from, and we settled on the ones we felt we could bring something to; an interesting moment, or an unexpected little something that pushes the song in a promising direction. I think we've managed?" he says.

Tracklist:

1. Burning Up
2. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
3. If It Makes You Happy
4. So Hard
5. Shut Up Kiss Me