The FADER's transgender charity covers compilation FADER & Friends Volume 1 is out now, available exclusively on Bandcamp until December 1, 2023. 100% of the proceeds go towards the Transgender Law Center, Mermaids, and Rainbow Railroad. Throughout the month of November, we're speaking to the artists who contributed to the 44-song collection about the songs they covered.
Released in 2002, Rilo Kiley's sophomore album The Execution of All Things went on to influence a raft of indie rock artists, including Shalom. The Saddle Creek-signed singer-songwriter, who dropped her Ryan Hemsworth co-produced debut album Sublimation in March, leans into the raw emotional potency of the album's sixth track “A Better Son/Daughter” for her jolting cover.
Listen to the song below and buy the full album on Bandcamp. Scroll down to read Shalom's thoughts on the original song and her cover.
What's your first memory of this song?
[Rilo Kiley's 2002 album The Execution of All Things] actually got me through the last couple years of high school! The song, for me really encompasses what it’s like to live life on two ends of the intensity spectrum as a bipolar person and was one of the first songs I heard that made me feel like other people knew what it was like.
Why did you decide to record it as your cover?
Apart from being a banger, "A Better Son/Daughter" is also just about the good that can come from sticking around. As a teenager, I was suicidal and often needed a reminder. Everyone needs a reminder sometimes
What does this song and band mean to you personally?
Rilo Kiley is like a hero worship band for me. When I got signed to Saddle Creek it was pretty surreal because I didn’t realize it was the same label that put out The Execution of All Things. It feels very full circle.
What's another song you'd love to cover and why?
"Lovefool" by the Cardigans. I think it would be so cool to have that song sung in a lower register. I want to mess around with that song so badly.
