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.
Hedra Rowan’s music often tends toward the abstract. There are certainly traces of her experimental ethos in her cover of Laura Nyro’s quiet-loud ballad “You Don’t Love Me When I Cry,” but she uses a light touch here. As Rowan’s rendition progresses, it starts to diverge from the original at an accelerating pace, her voice fracturing and its shards phasing in and out of sync before the track closes with a show-stopping coda that’s better experienced than described.
Listen to the song below and buy the full album on Bandcamp. Scroll down to read Hedra Rowan’s thoughts on the original song and her cover.
What’s your first memory of this song?
I was in the backseat of a car. Only about 10 seconds of it was audible over the road noise.
Why did you decide to record it as your cover?
I really like the way she made the album that this song is from, New York Tendaberry. She recorded the whole thing just piano and voice, and the arrangements were added on later, so they don’t adhere to a set tempo throughout. It’s very dynamic. I wanted to try working that way. I’m very comfortable making computer sounds but not playing piano and certainly not singing.
What does this song/band mean to you personally?
Laura Nyro is the titan of Jewish Bisexual songstresses. That’s a level I can only aspire to. If only I could write songs and sing better, maybe I too would look iconic walking around New York City. Instead, I have to make computer music in the cold in Chicago.
What’s another song you’d love to cover and why?
I was debating whether to cover something from Carla Bley’s Escalator Over the Hill for this compilation. The first section of “Holiday in Risk” is so pretty. Now that she’s passed, maybe I should make it anyway.