POPCAAN is a Jamaican dancehall artist, and whether or not you’ve heard his solo work before you’ve definitely heard him double-act with YOUNG THUG on JAMIE XX‘s inescapable summer hit I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times). Everything Nice is a syrupy, synthy jam from his 2014 album Where We Come From, and you wouldn’t immediately associate it with nordic-pop stars JAAKKO EINO KALEVI and FARAO, but Kalevi has an explanation: ‘I got obsessed with Everything Nice about a year ago in Iceland when I met Kari [Farao]. She was singing it all the time and soon I was singing it too, even without hearing the actual song. It became my power song.’ So that’s that, and their affection for the song eventually led their teaming up to cover it.
To make the track their own, the duo jack the tempo a little and give it a new, airier glossier sensibility. The brighter instrumentals and harmonising on the chorus really unlocks the track’s inner pop pop potential, and kinda makes you wish they’d go on a spree of song-covering if the results are this good every time. JAAKO EINO KALEVI’s self-titled album is out now, as is FARAO‘s début record Till It’s All Forgotten.