Vanessa Carlton Covers Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”

Vanessa Carlton is getting ready to record a new album. But first, she’s keeping fans happy with a stream of six covers over a span of six months. Following her unexpected take on Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend” in March and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” last month, Vanessa is now going back to some early roots with “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” by Neil Young. His original recording of the song appeared on his 1970 album, After The Gold Rush.

As with Neil’s original recording, Vanessa adopts a rustic, folksy instrumental sound for “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.” However, Vanessa infuses her cover with a touch of echoing reverb, making the song feel more feminine and dreamy. It sounds more like a 2010s indie track, an update over the old-school 1970s first version.

Vanessa told Consequence of Sound about choosing to cover Neil Young:

Neil Young is one of my favorite artists because of his ability to be vulnerable. He is unafraid to be himself in his work, which isn’t an easy feat. He is one of the greats because of this. Since having a child, I am even more attune to the rawness of this song. The artful simplicity of this lyric coupled with the cyclical feel of the music makes this song one of my favorite worlds to live in.

Read the rest of her interview with Consequence of Sound to discover 10 things Vanessa loves about Neil Young.

Listen to Vanessa’s cover of “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” below:

You can stream or download Vanessa’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” cover at all the major music providers here. Be sure to check out her previous covers, of “Call You Girlfriend” in March and “Dreams” in April.

Vanessa Carlton’s last album, Liberman, came out in fall 2015. It launched stunning singles like “Blue Pool,”“Operator,” “House Of Seven Swords,” and “Nothing Where Something Used To Be,” then led to two live releases: Liberman Live and the Earlier Things Live EP. In 2017, Vanessa revealed she was working on a new album, performing its potential title track, “Love Is An Art,” for lucky fans. While we wait for her new original music, Vanessa is spending most of 2018 with a series of six covers.

We’ve heard half of the six covers so far. Stay tuned for the final three covers from Vanessa this summer. She’s currently working on her next album, too, expected late this year or sometime in 2019. There’s plenty going on in the Vanessa Carlton world now! Keep checking back here for all the latest music news.

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