Fanny Lumsden On Cover Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’

Fanny Lumsden returns with her first new music since 2023’s ARIA, AIR and Golden Guitar Award-winning album, Hey Dawn, unveiling an unexpected and totally glorious new single courtesy of her version of Gotye’s global hit, Somebody That I Used To Know, featuring Kimbra. The recording features Fanny’s live band, The Prawn Stars and was produced by Matt Fell, Dan Freeman and Fanny, mixed by Matt Fell and mastered by William Bowden (who mastered the original Gotye version).

Fanny is set to embark on another huge run of touring heading back to the UK and Ireland for twenty one shows, her fourth time in two years following a triumphant Glastonbury debut in 2023. After selling out her Country Halls Tour in Scotland in 2024, Fanny and band The Prawn Stars will take the intimate series of shows back there again this year. She will then return at the end of August to hit the road with Paul Kelly and Lucinda Williams. In the midst of all of this, Fanny and band are currently working on new music, set for release later this year. Fanny talks to Hi Fi Way about the single, touring and new music that is on the way.

Congratulations on the on the single it must have been one of those dream come true songs to be able to cover?
Thank you, it really was. It was the reason we started doing it. We were doing Spicks And Specks, and they like they choose the secret song. So, it was given to us to begin with, and I was so grateful for that for that little gift, because it was such a fun song to rearrange and make it kind of our own. With such well-written songs, you usually can’t really go wrong.

Was it hard one to rearrange to make your own?
Yeah, we fiddled around with it a little bit, there’s obviously elements of that song that are really important to maintain. But I didn’t want to just try and copy it straight out. I was actually just fiddling around with the chords when I kind of accidentally played that down motion, the most down scale where we down the scale on that bass note. That gave this little creepy feeling which felt really cool with the harmonies, which was really fun. So, it was a fun way to do it and also because originally we recorded it with just four of us acoustically, with a double bass, mandolin, guitar, and four vocals, we arranged it around that. As we were playing it live, touring, it kind of evolved.

What is it about the magic of that song for you personally?
I think the tension it builds up with those verses, and then when you hit that chorus, it’s such an elevation. I think when you smash harmonies with that as well, for me, that just gives it such an impact. Like harmonies live for us are such a big thing. I think that song really just has this incredible essence that you can really have an impact on when you hit that chorus, and it just feels so good to perform live! And for me, my favorite bit of the whole song for us is how we end it with that same chord pattern at the very end with really spooky harmonies. It just adds a twist, which I think is kind of cool.

Did it got to a whole other level of fun in the studio when you actually got to reinterpret it with a polished piece at the end?
Yeah, absolutely. It was nice. It’s very different to how I usually like to record music. I’ve never recorded someone else’s song before either. We were much more, I think, because we played it live so many times, I didn’t really second guess everyone’s parts. Usually, I’m really involved in the parts, but I just trusted my band to bring up their parts and see what happened. So, that was a really fun experience and to have my live band on the recording as well, usually my live band are separate from the recording process, not all of them, but some of them. To have all of them there, it felt like something we haven’t captured before, and maybe will be something we do going forward as well, I think because live shows are so big for us, we just do so much touring, capturing that essence in a song is important.

Having Kimbra involved as well would have been great as well?
Yeah, like learning about the song itself, as well as Wally, the songwriter and Kimbra, they’re just such incredible artists. They’re so considered. They’ve got so much integrity. Their music, their sense of musicianship, is so high that I really felt like I couldn’t just smash it out. Even though we really tried to go on instinct and stuff, I really wanted to do a really good job of this song, particularly because they’re such well-respected musicians as well as performers.

Has Wally given any sort of endorsement or feedback on your interpretation of the song?
I think he spends most time offline these days. But we’ve heard from his team, and they have all approved it, and they liked it. William Bowden, who won the Grammy for the mastering of the original, mastered this for us. He actually masters all our music, and he actually said to me when I sent it through, “I’ll only master it if you’ve done a good job.” And he did it. So, I’m going to assume we did a good job. I think I love just the way that when a really good song has such good bones, you can take it in lots of directions, and it has so much more life available to it. It’s not reliant on the particular sounds that it originated with, you can really stretch it taking it in that really jangly, spooky way was probably, I mean, it’s not something I do loads, but I really did love how we brought the electric guitar in the second half of it. I really wanted to have a bit of edge and ring out in a way that was beautiful. But the mandolin, for me, is pretty iconic for our version. I think that it’s… here’s me calling myself iconic. I’m calling the mandolin iconic, to be sure. But I really love it. I think it’s a beautiful part that Patty, my mandolin player, wrote for that and it’s very simple. It’s very much around the original theme. I really wanted to bring all those themes in. Same with the keys, it brings a few of those themes back in from the original version. I didn’t go too hard on copying inflections or anything like that. Vocally, I really wanted to just see how it came out and not try to over-analyse it.

Fingers crossed you can get a billion plays on Spotify for your version as well.
Oh, my fingers are crossed. Who knows with that kind of world, right? We had a good time doing it, though, and it’s fun to do live because the audience know the words, and that’s always lovely, especially if you’re playing to a new audience and they’ve never heard of you before. It’s a point in the set that pretty much everyone knows that song, so that’s always a bit of fun.

Yeah, this a great opportunity to knock down a few doors and reach a few different people you might not have before.
Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s the beauty of doing cross-genre covers. I mean, we are definitely under the country banner, but we’re fairly ambiguous sonically when it comes to genres. Obviously, I’m proud country, but I think it’s a good opportunity for someone who may not have heard our other stuff, maybe a bit of a gateway.

It doesn’t really end there. You’ve got Yesterday’s Gone coming up at The Night at The Barracks, that must be exciting, trying something a bit different with Fleetwood Mac covers?
Yeah, it’s been a big year for different songs. Actually, I’ve never done anyone’s work other than my own until about a year ago when we started this Fleetwood Mac project, and that’s been a joy to do as well. Those songs, again, are such classics. Incredible songwriting, they really hold up. We’re not a tribute act; we’re not characters or anything. So, we get to interpret them in our own way, which is great. I really love that, but we’re still trying to pay tribute to those songs. So yeah, it’s been so much fun. I’m also doing another project where we’re performing the Trio album, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris.

Oh, wow!
Yeah, we’re doing that album in full at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival with Jess Hitchcock and Alice Keith. That’s beautiful as well. Those songs are all three-part harmonies, and we’re doing them exactly as the originals. We’ve had harmonies to learn, I’m still frantically learning them, actually! So it’s been a big year of performing other people’s music, which is a bit of a change-up. I don’t know, maybe it’ll influence my own music. I’m going to be recording new music soon, so who knows what will happen.

With either of these projects you’re working on, are there particular songs where you’ve said, “These are mine, back off”?
I’ve been pretty go-with-the-flow, to be honest. I did really hope for Landslide in the Fleetwood Mac set, and I did get that song, so that was amazing. I love performing it. It’s a really quiet moment in the set, and I do it on an acoustic guitar. It was the reason I discovered Fleetwood Mac, so that one, for sure, I wasn’t fighting to the death, but it was offered to me, so who knows? Maybe I would’ve got my nails out if I hadn’t been given it!

With the Trio songs, I didn’t mind at all. We really worked through them and figured out which voices sounded best in lead or harmony. We all switch roles, sometimes I’m doing high harmonies, sometimes low, and sometimes melody. We really focused on the blend and what worked best for each song. But I’ve still got songs that I really love, and I love singing harmony, it’s fun! We’ve really focused on doing the best versions of these songs we can, staying as true to them as possible. The show isn’t really about us, it’s about honouring the songs. So, the approach has been really different, more labour-intensive than usual. But I think it’ll be worth it. Those three-part harmonies are just beautiful.

Are there plans for new music this year?
Yeah, I’ve started the pre-production phase for recording. Hopefully, I’ll have new music out by the end of the year, sooner rather than later! I really need to get moving on it. We’ll probably spend the rest of the year getting an album together. I’ve written all the songs, I just have to get to the production phase. Just trying to fit it in with all the touring.

It must be really exciting juggling so many different things and having hands in different projects?
Yeah, exciting is definitely one way to put it.

And a little bit stressful?
A little bit stressful! We have a huge touring load about to start, and since I’m self-managed, I run all the business side too. So yeah, the next few months are going to be very hectic. We’ve got forty-something shows across Europe, the UK, and Australia when we get back. It all starts in about two and a half weeks, so I’m pretty frantic behind the scenes getting things organised. But you’re right, it is exciting, and I do love it. I don’t think you could be in this industry if you didn’t.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Fanny Lumsden at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, tickets HERE…

On tour in the UK tickets HERE…

Fanny Lumsden performing with Yesterday’s Gone, tickets HERE…

On tour with Paul Kelly and Lucinda Williams, tickets from Frontier Touring…