Somehow, singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers made Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" more somber with her cover contribution to the upcoming Metallica Black Album covers album, The Metallica Blacklist. I can definitely see this song being used in trailers for future apocalyptic movies set to footage of the world exploding and the protagonist hugging his loved ones.
She recently told Apple Music “It was just so fun to take a part in it. 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.”
She added “I’ve always been a big Metallica fan. 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 profits from The Metallica Blacklist will benefit Metallica’s charitable foundation, All Within My Hands, as well as the charities of choice of the artists who contributed.
The Metallica Blacklist features 53 artists spanning a range of genres, generations, cultures, continents, and more each covering a song off The Black Album. The artists include Ghost, Kamasi Washington and way more! They are:
- Alessia Cara & The Warning – "Enter Sandman"
- Mac DeMarco – "Enter Sandman"
- Ghost – "Enter Sandman"
- Juanes – "Enter Sandman"
- Rina Sawayama – "Enter Sandman"
- Weezer – "Enter Sandman"
- Sam Fender – "Sad But True (Live)"
- Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – "Sad But True"
- Mexican Institute of Sound feat. La Perla & Gera MX – "Sad But True"
- Royal Blood – "Sad But True"
- St. Vincent – "Sad But True"
- White Reaper – "Sad But True"
- YB – "Sad But True"
- Biffy Clyro – "Holier Than Thou"
- The Chats – "Holier Than Thou"
- OFF! – "Holier Than Thou"
- PUP – "Holier Than Thou"
- Corey Taylor – "Holier Than Thou"
- Cage The Elephant – "The Unforgiven"
- Vishal Dadlani, DIVINE, Shor Police – "The Unforgiven"
- Diet Cig – "The Unforgiven"
- Flatbush Zombies feat. DJ Scratch – "The Unforgiven"
- Ha*Ash – "The Unforgiven"
- José Madero – "The Unforgiven"
- Moses Sumney – "The Unforgiven"
- J Balvin – "Wherever I May Roam"
- Chase & Status feat. BackRoad Gee – "Wherever I May Roam"
- The Neptunes – "Wherever I May Roam"
- Jon Pardi – "Wherever I May Roam"
- SebastiAn – "Don't Tread on Else Matters"
- Portugal. The Man feat. Aaron Beam – "Don't Tread on Me"
- Volbeat – "Don't Tread on Me"
- The HU – "Through the Never"
- Tomi Owó – "Through the Never"
- Phoebe Bridgers – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Miley Cyrus feat. Watt, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Dave Gahan – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Mickey Guyton – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Dermot Kennedy – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Mon Laferte – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Igor Levit – "Nothing Else Matters"
- My Morning Jacket – "Nothing Else Matters"
- PG Roxette – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Darius Rucker – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Chris Stapleton – "Nothing Else Matters"
- TRESOR – "Nothing Else Matters"
- Goodnight, Texas – "Of Wolf and Man"
- IDLES – "The God That Failed"
- Imelda May – "The God That Failed"
- Cherry Glazerr – "My Friend of Misery"
- Izïa – "My Friend of Misery"
- Kamasi Washington – "My Friend of Misery"
- Rodrigo y Gabriela – "The Struggle Within"
Pre-orders for The Metallica Blacklist are available here.
Metallica will also reissue includes a handful of live albums, interviews, demos & rough mixes, live and behind-the-scenes DVDs, and a bunch of goodies. Both the regular and standard versions are available for pre-order here before their September 10 release.
