Be it a bloke with a guitar in the pub, countless buskers on the street or even big names touring in Manchester, we’ve come across a lot of Oasis covers in our time and plenty of takes on ‘Champagne Supernova’ too – but this one by Middle Kids is up there with the best we’ve ever heard.
Alternative Australian band Middle Kids have been going since 2015 and we hear at Audio North have been enjoying the Sydney export for a good long while now.
Released back in 2019, their debut album Lost Friends had us hooked from the off, as have their two follow-up records, Today We’re The Greatest (2021) and Faith Crisis Pt 1, which dropped earlier this year.
The latter was recorded right here in England by Jonathan Gilmore, who has famously worked with The 1975 and other artists on the Dirty Hit label, so there’s no surprise you can hear some of those UK influences in their sound – but we weren’t expecting them to nail such an iconic Britpop song so easily.
Middle Kids perform a very different kind of cover of ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis.
What do you reckon – pretty bloody good, right?
ADVERTISEMENT
Now, imitating a song well is one thing but reimagining it in a totally different way is another and, in our opinion, often what makes a really good cover stand out.
Plenty of music fans tend to agree too as the comments underneath the video speak for themselves. One person wrote, “Her voice is entrancing, this sounds great”, while another added: “Classy cover, brings new meaning to the track for me. Melancholy magic.” High praise indeed.
ADVERTISEMENT
To be honest, most of the comments are just various different ways of saying, “We must have this on Spotify immediately” – and if you enjoyed it too, you’ll be glad to know they listened and added it to the streaming platform right off the bat, where it’s already boasted countless plays in less than a fortnight.
By the way, this isn’t their first ‘Like A Version’ cover for the national radio station and popular online channel that has impressed, having previously done their own takes on everything from Crowded House and even Olivia Rodrigo.
A good triple j cover – which often go viral on social media – can do wonders for a band’s profile.
The Aussie indie rockers clearly have a real penchant for covers and not just trying to recreate what’s gone before but actually put their own twist on stuff.
ADVERTISEMENT
As for Middle Kids’ version of ‘Champagne Supernova’, we’ve had it on repeat for the past week; we’re not sure whether it’s lead singer Hannah Joy’s soft and soothing vocal take on the classic Manc hit or the cleverly vocoded keys creating those harmonica sounds underneath everything, all we know is we love it.
It’s more pared-down and stripped back than the original as you can often expect from the likes of triple j and Live Lounge sessions but it turns out a lo-fi version of the legendary song is something we never knew we needed.
More importantly, if you’ve never given the talented trio a listen before then we urge you to give their own discography a go when you come up for air from all the Oasis excitement of late.
It’s not the only cover involving a Greater Manchester band we’ve enjoyed recently either…
Featured Images — triple j (screenshot via YouTube)
Audio
The Lathums announce new album and a dozen UK tour dates, including Manchester homecoming
Danny Jones
Yes, after finally releasing a first taste of new music this month, The Lathums have finally announced their next album and an accompanying 12-date UK tour to boot.
Gosh, it’s been a really great few weeks for music, hasn’t it?
The much-loved Wigan band dropped the likes of ‘No Direction’ back in July, as well as new single, ‘Stellar Cast’ – which they described rather fittingly as a “Jamaican Ale-fuelled fever dream” – earlier this week and have now confirmed the title and release date for their latest LP.
Set to debut on Friday, 7 March next year, their next project will be called Matter Does Not Define and the local lads won’t be wasting any time in touring it either, with the UK dates scheduled to kick off just a few days later.
Having watched them at Kendal Calling back in 2023 and enjoyed gigs multiple times here in Manchester, we can confirm we’ve got a very soft spot for seeing The Lathums live.
It was only this past summer that they headlined a sold-out hometown show at Wigan’s Robin Park Arena, playing to more than 11,500 fans on a weekend shared with Britpop legend Richard Ashcroft, who has just been confirmed as the support act for the Oasis reunion tour.
You don’t get to play stages that big without being a bloody gig at what you do.
With that in mind (not to mention two number-one records in a row already, don’t forget), we’re very excited to hear what these guys have come up with for their third studio outing.
Speaking in an official statement on behalf of the band, frontman Alex Moore says there is a “raw, real and energetic” vibe to the album, adding that there were some nice nostalgic personal touches that made its production special.
“Recording Matter Does Not Define felt like coming full circle”, says Moore. “We worked on it with our good friend and old college tutor, John Kettle, which brought us back to our roots. The process felt organic, without the pressure to cater to industry demands, and it allowed us to really explore creatively.
“It was like being back in college, free to make music without constraints. ‘Duz’ [drummer Ryan Durrans] even plays a frying pan in ‘Stellar Cast’, a random touch you might not expect.” He summed it up by labelling it “everything we hoped it would be”.
The Lathums will kick off a dozen domestic tour dates in Barrowland, Glasgow on Thursday, 13 March 2025 before arriving in Manchester for their O2 Apollo gig on Friday, 11 April.
General admission for all UK dates go on general sale to fans at 10am on Friday, 8 November 2024.
Pet Shop Boys named amongst latest wave of unreal acts set to play MTV EMAs at Co-op Live
Danny Jones
Synth-pop legends Pet Shop Boys are among the latest names to have been added to the artists set to play the MTV EMAs in Manchester next month.
The 2024 MTV EMAs ceremony is coming to the state-of-the-art Co-op Live arena, the biggest indoor entertainment venue of its kind in Europe, for its Manchester debut on 10 November and the lineup of performers and presenters has already pricked up our ears.
Raye, Shawn Mendes and Teddy Swims are just a few of those previously announced, so we were pretty happy to begin with, but now the English duo and 1980s are in the mix we’re starting to get very excited.
Make way, Mancs, because the Pet Shop Boys and their ‘West End Girls’ are coming our way – they’re not the only ones either…
Confirming the news on Wednesday afternoon, MTV revealed that not only will Pet Shop Boys be performing on the highly-anticipated night, but they will also be joined by the likes of K-pop girl group, Le Sserafim and Mexican musician, Peso Pluma.
Perhaps most excitingly, these new additions will also be joined by South African pop and R’n’B star: the new ‘Queen of Popiana’ herself, Tyla.
The 22-year-old amapiano singer – best known for her breakthrough single ‘Water’, which was an instant hit on the radio, and online and even spawned a viral TikTok dance craze – hasn’t performed in Manchester before given her career is still in its early days
Make no mistake either way, she’s one of the fastest-rising acts on the planet right now and it’s a really big get for the 30th year of the annual award ceremony.
Once again, the 2024 MTV EMAs in Manchester take place on Sunday, 10 November, where huge stars like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé and more are all nominated, not to mention names like Pet Shops, Boys, Tyla and Raye will all be performing.
Audio North is even hosting an exclusive competition for win tickets, a hotel stay and more ahead of the event, but entry runs out this Thursday, 30 October, you best enter quickly!
If you’ve still not made it to Manchester’s game-changing new live music venue, believe us, you’re about to be blown away…
Danny Jones -
30th October 2024 
