Imagining there’s no heaven was particularly easy to do when we woke up this morning to some awful not-directly-related virus news: Gal Gadot and her celebrity cronies had recorded a tasteless, off-key cover of that John Lennon song we just can’t seem to erase from our collective memory. It didn’t really do anything to advance any causes, or raise any money, or draw attention to any relief funds, or make us feel any sort of comfort whatsoever—it just reminded us that we’re not all together in this, as some of us can afford comfort.
Harsh noise artist Lingua Ignota eloquently put what most of us were feeling into music shortly after the video inevitably went viral. Using the audio from the video, Kristin Hayter was inspired to create her most brutal track to date, manipulating the already-grating sounds of Mark Ruffalo hitting high notes into piercing, screeching noise in an attempt to “LIFT SPIRITS AND INSPIRE HOPE.” You can stream that track below—and please drop (at least) a buck for it on Bandcamp, as Hayter is trying to make ends meet following and leading up to two separate surgeries.
Additionally, shapeshifting indie collective Dirty Projectors just dropped their own Lennon (and the Plastic Ono Band) cover, seemingly unrelated to this morning’s travesty. Dave Longstreth wrote and performed the downtempo, minimalist composition to raise funds for MusiCare’s COVID-19 relief fund, and it’s available exclusively on Bandcamp. “I encourage you to buy it (pay-what-you-wish) so we can be a part of helping combat this together,” he writes.
Hang in there—we’ve surely got more distasteful viral celebrity content in store!
