The Zutons have shared their cover of seminal Amy Winehouse track ‘Black To Black’.
Their dedication to the late singer is a full circle moment, given she famously covered their 2006 song ‘Valerie’ and popularised it so much the band later joked that everyone thought she wrote it.
“We’ve always been proud of how Amy made ‘Valerie’ her own, and to have the opportunity to honour her in this way feels really special,” the band said of the new song. “This version of ‘Back To Black’ has taken on a life of its own, and we’re excited to share it with everyone.”
The newly released cover originated from a Live Lounge performance that saw them perform their own version of ‘Valerie’ alongside another Winehouse classic. Their take on ‘Back To Black’ received such overwhelmingly positive response from viewers that they decided to record and release the track officially.
Earlier this year, as part of NME‘s Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! series, Zutons frontman Dave McCabe opened up about interacting with Winehouse, as well as how the ‘Valerie’ cover came to be.
“I met Amy three times in my life,” he recalled. “Once at the Mercury Prize, once in the Camden boozer The Hawley Arms, and once when I was hanging around with this Brummie lad called Boo, who was a tit.
“He spent all night comparing me to her, saying: ‘If you’re a one, she’s a 10’. I thought: ‘OK, I get it, she’s good’. Eventually, I said ‘Look Boo, fuck off being a wanker. You’ve done this for hours and it’s pissing me off’, and Amy turned round and said: ‘Well, you fuck off then!’ to me, because he was her mate.
“So, I walked out of the house in the strop, and she followed me and pleaded: ‘Please come back. I’m sorry I told you to fuck off,” he continued. “I really like that song’ [‘Valerie’]. We went back in and carried on drinking.”
McCabe went on to say he had “a lot to thank Amy Winehouse for”, but also thanked his friend Boo: “If he wasn’t being a wanker, we wouldn’t have got talking about the song and I don’t think she would have covered it. So thanks Boo – he made me a 10!”
Paloma Faith also paid tribute to the ‘Rehab’ singer with a ‘Back To Black’ cover at this year’s Glastonbury, with Miley Cyrus doing the same in her 2019 set where she was joined by collaborator Mark Ronson.
The Zutons are currently on tour with Paul Heaton, and are set to embark on their own UK headline tour next April. You can find tickets here.