Bayou is a producer and singer who came on the scene last year with “Cherry Cola.” He trends toward airy R&B, notably transforming the doo-wop track “Skyscraper” by Elephant in a bit of wonderful remixing. Returning now with another, he’s released “everybodysgottalearn.”
This isn’t the first James Warren cover. Beck covered it in the soundtrack for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, taking it bigger with strings, sparse percussive flares, and upfront bass. “Everybody’s Gotta Learn” is the perfect track for Bayou’s style; he’s taken the simplicity of the original and transformed it into space, accentuating and layering his vocals with a bit of reverb and vocoding. There’s great back and forth as the electric percussion—clicking hihats and muted dance kicks—with a bit of synthwork robotize the track, while the smooth vocals humanize it. Keep an ear out for the echo cut-ups, the perfect little texture just before the two minute mark.
