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Swedish collective The Hope Singers give us a premiere today with their own gorgeous new take on The Clash’s “The Call Up,” and it’s less of a cover than an interpretation or even a conversation over the ages. Fueled by the group’s DIY ethos and honed over years of sharing drafty apartments and filthy practice spaces, the track is a testament to the band’s instinctive, communal approach to making music, one born of curiosity, trust, and an undeniable devotion to songcraft.
The incredible Mariam, the Believer, takes guest lead vocals and delivers something compelling. Her performance is emotional, personal, and disarmingly intimate, a striking contrast to the original’s march-like urgency. Instead of echoing The Clash’s angular tension, she leans into openness, turning the song inward. Each phrase feels lived-in, as though she were excavating the lyrics for the first time.
Working with long-term collaborators Karl Jonas Winqvist and Gilbert Johansson, the arrangement subtly remolds the song’s bones while keeping its spirit in sight. Their methodical yet free-flowing approach pays homage to the songwriters of old and won’t give in to imitation. Instead, they invite “The Call Up” into the singular universe The Hope Singers have created, one in which songs are permitted to travel, shift, and discover new emotional destinies.
That philosophy runs throughout the project, a lineup of beloved classics and overlooked gems, rearranged to suit the ensemble’s sweeping, heartfelt sound. Here, that mission has special poignancy. The Hope Singers are not preserving a relic, they’re allowing it to take breath. They demonstrate that a song can have many lives and that, in the right hands, it can uncover truths it didn’t even know it was holding.