Watercolorsunshine is a Folk musician with a knack for radical reinvention. Recently, he released a heart-wrenching banjo cover of Swedish Promcore artist Bladee’s tumultuous autotune banger, “Destroy Me.”
The original song is cloaked in rumbling 808s and lined with snappy trap percussion. Bladee’s vocals are doused in autotune and reverb. His music is entirely one of a kind, but if there is a trace to any influences, my guess would be glitzy Dance music from the early 2000’s.
Watercolorsunshine’s cover of “Destroy Me” is fundamentally dissimilar to the original, but both songs radiate deep longing and are beautiful in their own ways. Instead of high-pitched autotuned wailing, you find a rich and delicate delivery, and instead of sub-bass, you find melancholic harmonica. The leading banjo performance is pendulous and gentle. Overall, Watercolorsunshine made a heartfelt, rustic, and momentous ballad out of, well, a Bladee song.