triple j
NIKI has given Chappell Roan a musical makeover, covering “Casual” for her recent appearance on Like a Version, the long-running segment from Australian radio station triple j.
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Airing on Friday, April 10 (Australian time), the performance was recorded in mid-March during the Australian leg of the Indonesian-born singer’s Buzz World Tour. As is tradition, the two-song set launched with an original, which saw NIKI deliver a raucous rendition of her “ female rage” song “Colossal Loss,” which has become wildly popular with her fans despite not being released as a single.
For the cover portion of the set, NIKI turned her attention to Roan’s “Casual,” which had been initially released in late 2022 as a single, before appearing on her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess the following year. As a result of the Grammy-nominated album’s global success in 2024, “Casual” peaked at No. 59 on the Hot 100 in August.
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Stripping away the nostalgic synths in favor of a Gibson 12-string and slide guitar, NIKI’s reinvention of the track almost feels like something of a link between Roan’s original and the country-pop of her March single “The Giver.”
“It’s definitely a song that I wish I wrote,” NIKI explained in a post-performance interview. “I love the entire record, obviously, but ‘Casual’ was the one that really stayed with me on a personal level. It’s almost like I feel like I’ve known those melodies all my life, so it just felt very familiar and the production is just so moody.”
“For my version of casual, we decided to speed it up and make it more of like an early 2000s vibe, because we’ve been covering a lot of early 2000s bangers on tour,” she continued. “Just to kind of tie it into that universe of my Buzz tour, we sort of like Buzz-ified it, I guess.”
Having first launched in 2004, the Like a Version series has gone from being a near-impromptu acoustic affair to featuring larger studio productions. Numerous artists have taken part over the past two decades, with the likes of Billie Eilish, Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys, and more reinventing classic tracks in the process.
Porter Robinson has delivered a little bit of romance, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
The U.S. producer has shared his energetic, pop-influenced take on Irish outfit Fontaines D.C.’s 2024 single “Favourite” as part of his recent appearance on Like a Version, the long-running covers segment from Australian radio station triple j.
Recorded during Robinson’s Australia tour earlier this month but aired on the morning of Friday, Feb. 14 (Australian time), the cover was well-timed to coincide with Valentine’s Day, with the original track even closing out Fontaines D.C.’s Romance album last year.
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The cover is emblematic of Robinson’s recent stylistic shift, with 2024’s Smile! 😀 seeing him move away from his electronic roots and introducing sounds more aligned with the pop-punk and hyperpop genres. The change in sonic focus was a bold move for Robinson, and though the album became his first not to chart on the Billboard 200, it did peak at No. 10 on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
Fontaines D.C., meanwhile, also experienced something of a change in sound for their album Romance. While their previous efforts were more post-punk influenced, their fourth LP was somewhat more polished and aligned with the alternative rock genre.
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It was a commercially-successful change, however. It became the band’s first album to reach the Billboard 200 (hitting No. 97), and it earned them two Grammy nominations, including Best Rock Album and Best Alternative Music performance for lead single “Starburster”.
“’Favourite’ was, no pun intended, one of my favorite songs of the last year,” Robinson said in a post-performance interview with triple j. “It was the song that made me a fan of Fontaines D.C. I just love it. I love major-key music. I love music that’s extremely catchy and extremely hooky. And I love the way that this song feels like it’s constantly tumbling forward.”
Robinson’s Like a Version session also featured an original rendition of “Cheerleader”, and adds to a long history of memorable performances on the program.
Having first launched in 2004, the series has gone from being a near-impromptu acoustic affair to featuring larger studio productions. Numerous artists have taken part over the past two decades, with the likes of Billie Eilish, Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys, and more reinventing classic tracks in the process. As Robinson explains, the history and impact of the segment was not lost on him.
“I was so nervous to do this [performance], because I really, really do consider it an institution,” he explained. “Like a Version is a musical institution, and I wanted to make sure I put my best foot forward on it, respected the format and gave something that was listenable.
“This isn’t just like a video that lives online, this gets heard and this gets played,” he added. “So I just wanted to respect the listener to be like, ‘Let’s make this as good as it can be’.”
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