I’m sure it’s not kosher to say it yet, but this track excels far beyond Frank Ocean‘s version. That’s no fault to the original artist, Ocean’s take was wholly original after all, and this is just a reimagining; but I never fell in love with “Swim Good” until now. When Cave Painting tackle the chorus, I feel wave after wave of an ocean-sized set of emotions wash over me.

The front and center vocals in Cave Painting’s version sound full-throated presentist: you can practically hear the crash of the waves in your ears, chatter your teeth in anticipation of a decision, and in your heart believe nothing else matters except what’s going on right now. It makes for a fascinating counterpoint to lyrics that quiver in between the dubious follies of a past that needs to be forgotten and a future that has as much potential to fail as make the singer lift off.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse in my coverage of covers, but there is something so disaffecting about needless reverb, distortion, and echo. And I give props to Frank Ocean for creating the structure of a brilliant song, with lyrics that read like an epic story on the page, but never quite connected with me sonically. I imagine this song, performed by Ocean, is brilliant live, but for now on my mp3, I’ll leave it to Cave Painting to carry the song’s message to me.

Grab a free download of the cover at Cave Painting’s Facebook page.

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