Brooklyn singer-songwriter Danielle Parente is getting set to release her new album Dark Eyes on 18 September, and on the heels of the smouldering R&B of “Very Last Breath (5 Minute Stares)” she now grabs your attention with an audacious and inspired electronic cover of Chris Isaak’s classic tune “Wicked Game”. With its slow build that combines electropop and straight-up dance, it has “club hit” written all over it.
“I wanted to record the cover ‘Wicked Game’ because it is one of the most iconic and beautifully executed songs for me of the ’90s,” Parente tells PopMatters. “Also, I think the lyrics are brilliant and universal, the idea of not wanting to fall in love because you know it will tear you apart, but diving in regardless knowing full well you will drown. It’s an incredibly romantic and quite torturous notion.
“From Chris Isaak’s mellow tone, to the sexy slide guitar, to maybe one of the most classically beautiful and provocative music videos of all time, it’s pretty much engrained in me as an influence. I thought it would be an interesting take from a female perspective and to sing it with a lot of rich textures and harmonies. I recorded the vocal as an acapella. The ambient remix production was an afterthought, but I think it gives it a form of its own rather then trying to recreate the original which I feel would be impossible. This version, produced by Blaq Smurph, can exist in a night club or maybe even during the daytime on the beach but still maintain that ethereal sexiness that the original possessed.”