"FACT 200." That's the Factory Records catalog number for New Order's 1987 compilation, Substance. That collection brought together the band's 12" singles to that point, including their associated B-sides. It's a stone classic with some of the most influential songs ever recorded in modern rock.
New York songwriter Erik Laroi, working here under the name Soft News, has taken several of the songs from Substance and reworked them into quiet acoustic versions, embellished with strings arranged by Perry Serpa and some ethereal backing vocals from Lorraine Lelis. Much like Kenny Feinstein's 2013 Loveless: Hurts to Love, which was a full-album cover of the mbv classic, FACT 200 strips these songs of some of their technical ornamentation to reveal the expert pop songwriting underneath.
"Temptation" -- perhaps my favorite New Order song after the incredible "Ceremony" -- starts quiet and plaintive, building to a beautiful duet as Laroi and Lelis sing, "and I've never seen anyone quite like you before" over some subdued yet soaring strings. The eminently recognizable hook from "Perfect Kiss" comes amid some Latin beats here, making this version a different type of dance track than the 8+ minute original.
Both "Blue Monday" and "True Faith" become ominously dark and foreboding. Each is carried along on a string arrangement that could place it on the soundtrack to a period film set in some European royal court.
Things are lighter on the Bossa Nova-esque "Bizarre Love Triangle." The original's staccato beats and sharp edges make it an all-time dance classic. Here, it's smooth, quiet and jazzy conveying the image of a smoky room with fans twirling overhead rather than a packed dance floor with strobing lights.
Soft News do an excellent job handling these songs. Laroi reveals not only a real sense of what gives the songs on Substance their essence, but also a great facility with the sounds that comprise what we might call "soft rock." Far from being something like elevator music, though, FACT 200 employs these styles to highlight the darkness and universal danceability inherent in many of these tracks. I only wish the set included a version of "Ceremony."
FACT 200 is over on the Soft News Soundcloud page.
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