Music’s capacity to impact our moods, emotions, and eventually our soul is its enigmatic superpower. From a turn of phrase to a few seconds of an affecting melody, music can create real change—and enacting that transformation is what persuades so many to carry it out as vocation. Okay Kaya has captured this calling with her cover of the gospel standard “If I Can Help Somebody” by Alma B. Androzzo. It’s the lead single from her forthcoming project, following her 2020 album Watch This Liquid Pour Itself.
Whereas the original is typically performed with a dozen or so powerful voices strung together in a choir, Kaya’s take is an intimate folk rendition. Her voice is close with a tender quiver at times. “If I can nurture someone in this world of rot / Then my living shall not be in vain,” goes one standout line. The cover comes from the newly announced mixtape The Incompatible Okay Kaya, which is out October 22. The mixtape also features renditions of Nick Cave and The Magnetic Fields singles. “Originally Okay Kaya existed as a SoundCloud project, I would send these songs back to my family and friends—covering songs or just making up melodies and playing with language to help me fall asleep,” she said in a press release.
Listen to her take on “If I Can Help Somebody” below, and pre-order the mixtape here.
