Phoebe Bridgers has shared a self-proclaimed “Baroque” cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters.” The song appears on the upcoming charity compilation The Metallica Blacklist, which drops September 10 digitally and in physical editions on October 1.
Bridgers’ track features production from Tony Berg and Ethan Gruska, the latter of whom is responsible for the piano part. “It was just so fun to take a part in it,” Bridgers said in conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. “I feel like my version almost sounds Baroque. Literally, James [Hetfield] does all sorts of weird octave jumps and stuff that I can’t do, and I almost have a Billie Eilish approach of right by the microphone, performing it the opposite of them, which was really fun to lean into.
“I’ve always been a big Metallica fan,” she said. “I think it’s funny, my intro to them was probably way later than so many people who have always loved them. But when I was a teenager, I went to Outside Lands and I definitely knew Metallica songs from video games and stuff, but I went to Outside Lands and saw their set and was like, ‘This is a rock band.’ It’s kind of a gateway to metal because they’re so hooky and you can hold onto so much of it and it actually can get stuck in your head. So that’s what I’ve always loved about Metallica is that they don’t shy away from a great hook.”
The 30th anniversary of Metallica’s self-titled masterpiece, widely known as The Black Album, is tomorrow, August 12. Ahead of the September 10 release of The Metallica Blacklist, the band has showcased covers from artists such as St. Vincent, Sam Fender, Jason Isbell, J Balvin, and Jon Pardi.
Phoebe Bridgers will also be appearing on the forthcoming album from The Killers, Pressure Machine, which is set to be released this Friday, August 13.
