This covers collection looks like a tribute to Frightened Rabbit’s frontman Scott Hutchison, who took his own life last year. Tiny Changes is the name of a new mental health charity set up by his family. In fact the music was already completed before Hutchison’s death, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Glasgow indie band’s second album.
Heard in that context, it’s simply a set of interesting, eclectic interpretations that show how many talented friends the group made while touring their five albums. Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES and Aaron Dessner of The National make a twinkling lullaby out of Who’d You Kill Now? Josh Ritter adds plenty of fiddle to a country take on Old Old Fashioned.
However, the singer’s story can’t help but cast a huge shadow over the celebration. Biffy Clyro’s version of The Modern Leper becomes heavier, more anguished and furious as it progresses. The Twilight Sad are brave enough to take on Floating in the Forth — a song about suicide written more than a decade before Hutchison was found in the Forth estuary — and build a dense wall of electric guitar around it.
Still, great songs are great songs however they’re presented, and there are plenty here.
