It feels like it’s been a minute since we got lost in the electronic-pop haze of GEMS, but the LA/DC duo are back in a rather weighty way: By covering all of John Lennon’s 1971 album Imagine.
The record is out March 30, limited to 1,000 vinyl copies, and it’s part of Turntable Kitchen’s Sounds Delicious subscription series. We hyped the series’ debut about a year ago, when Yumi Zouma covered all of Oasis’ (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? and gave us a tease via “Champagne Supernova.”
The tease here from GEMS is the title-track, and it certainly has caught our attention. Listen to it below.
“I feel honored that we had the chance to record our own interpretations of these courageous, albeit conflicted songs,” GEMS say in a statement. “In some ways Lennon’s vision seems impossibly naive today. But don’t we need something to strive for? We need connection, we need communication, forgiveness and healing. I know I need the type of enchanted dream where we try to lift up humanity together. Even if it’s just in our own small, personal way. I’m restless. I’m yearning for something real. I have to believe that we can still use our short time here on earth to put some kind of goodness into the world. And maybe while we’re at it, we can share the same dream.”
Featured GEMS image by Holly Burnham.