LA’s Iress have become a reliable source for gothy doomgaze over the past decade, with last July’s boisterous-yet-still-intimate Sleep Now, in Reverse LP exploring new musical and emotional complexities. Although at odds with the band’s pounding post-metal instrumentals and vocalist Michelle Malley’s dramatic singing, the dark existentialism of Billie Eilish’s Barbie hit “What Was I Made For?” is a surprisingly apt tonal fit for Iress, as demonstrated by their newly released cover of the track—a project that was a long time coming, Malley shares, even if it took the band several years to decide which pop song, exactly, to bring into their gloomy world. “We all pitched ideas regularly, even demoed a few but nothing stuck,” Malley explains, “until…‘Billie.’ This became how we would refer to ‘What Was I Made For,’ which truly came together seamlessly.
Iress make the track their own from the moment the opening ethereal moans give way to heavy-metal guitar chords, with Malley belting out the familiar lyrics over top of it all. “The song and vocal performance is already so powerful and delicate, we wanted to keep that essence with our version, as well,” she explains. “We surprised our fans and performed it live at our album release show last year and the reaction felt euphoric. We continued to include ‘Billie’ in our set on tour in the UK last year, and it became apparent that we had to record it when we got back home. Hopefully Billie Eilish and our fans appreciate what we’ve created, because we love it.”
The track lands ahead of Iress’ shows in the Southwest with Faetooth later this month, with a set of Pacific Northwest dates with Spirit Mother to follow. Find the full list of stops here, and check out their cover below.
