Eora's RnB wunderkind BOY SODA has transformed a 2000s emo classic into a smooth, sleek and funk-flecked number with his take on Panic! At The Disco's 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies'.
When the 2005 original is a maximalist rush of baroque pop complete with cello and singer Brendon Urie's vocal gymnastics, BOY SODA slows things down a little and brings in some gentle drums, velvety, warm bass lines and jazz-y horn trio.
The result is still dramatic, especially with BOY SODA's gorgeous falsettos, but much more relaxed.
"I hope it finds [people] in the middle of some decompression," he says.
How did BOY SODA, real name Brae Luafalealo, land on the Panic! track? He says he heard it in the car shortly after signing up for his first-ever Like A Version, and remembered how much he loved the track as a kid.
"It's just one of those childhood songs that I would always sing in the car, and is imprinted in your memory as one of those songs that bring up a lot of nostalgia when you listen to it," he says.
"It's nice to bring an RnB spin to a song that everybody knows and that i was screaming at the top of my lungs for my entire childhood."
He says matching Brendon's high-pitched falsetto as a kid "plagued him", and he'd spend hours trying to match him. Looks like all those hours paid off.
Arriving a few weeks ahead of BOY SODA's debut album Soulstar, this Like A Version marks about five years of the singer's time in the spotlight, including popping up on triple j's Bars of Steel a few years back. Since then, he says he's leaned "less rap and more soul, which feels more me". If this is a sign of what to expect, we can't wait.
Catch him chatting about the cover below in a behind-the-scenes video and his rendition of 'Lil Obsession', a track he dropped back in January.