Courtney Barnett Releases Stripped-Down Cover of John Cale’s ‘Close Watch’

Courtney Barnett had no intention of being left out of the Record Store Day fun, so she released a 7" vinyl of "Kim's Caravan," from her 2015 album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. The B-side to this hot-ticket item is an acoustic cover of John Cale's "Close Watch" -- listen to the track up above.

Cale originally released the song in 1975 on his album Helen of Troy, then again in 1982 on Music for a New Society. Barnett's cover is stripped down and drenched in reverb, standing in contrast to the orchestral, more optimistic-sounding original. Check out Cale's original version below and compare for yourself:

Barnett released a music video for "Kim's Caravan" just a few days ago, and called the track "an apocalyptic tale of our world painted black with oil and soot, painted red with blood and greed" and said it was partially inspired by her viewing of the Midnight Oil documentary, Black Rain Falls.

Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Barnett's debut album, was released in March and we said of it, "While a wink might be lurking behind each jam-packed thought, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit proves Barnett is not simply a slacker or sardonic garage rocker — far from it."