Ghost In The Machine’s “Crushed & Shattered” — A Unique Dual Take on Pat Benatar’s Heartbreaker
Industrial electronic rock duo, Ghost In The Machine, has released “Crushed & Shattered”, a single featuring two distinct cover versions of Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker.” The band’s members discuss their creative process, influences, and intentions behind these unique takes on the classic song.
Listen at this location: https://open.spotify.com/album/2WzWicx6vKcFGN77AHIiuD?si=mHaUr1WnRuKGMZaj3oMQcA
“The new release, ‘Crushed & Shattered’, has two different cover versions of Pat Benatar’s ‘Heartbreaker. The ‘Crushed’ version is acoustic and largely unplugged in feel. The approach was to keep instrumentation and production as minimal as possible, allowing the emotion to be raw, intimate, and painful. To match this, a melancholic fingerstyle acoustic guitar accompanies the vocals as the main instrument. The primary influence or goal was to be as different as possible from Pat’s original. The other ‘Shattered’ version, although still very different from Pat’s original, aligns more closely with the traditional Ghost in the Machine industrial sound. We intentionally overproduced it with numerous layers and electronic instrumentation to create a twisted space where the vocals convey despair. The arrangement builds, and mid-song, it becomes much heavier with distorted guitars and a punchier rhythm.”
The original song “Heartbreaker” holds a special meaning for the duo. As they mention, “As kids, it was a cool rock song from a female-fronted band. We really liked it and were inspired by it.” This inspiration led them to create both “Crushed” and “Shattered” versions, each special in its own way.
About the single’s place in the band’s discography, Ghost In The Machine sees it as a forward movement in their musical evolution: “As a single, this release is a stepping stone to our next full-length album… ‘Crushed’ showcases a bit more musicality instead of leaning on production and technology. ‘Crushed & Shattered’ is a great addition to our discography and adds a different sense of diversity.”
The band hopes fans will appreciate the re-interpretations. They say: “‘Crushed’ is such a deviation from our normal industrial musical style, it might be confusing for our older fans, but we hope they accept it as an attempt to connect on a lower and more simple raw level. If not, that’s OK, and the ‘Shattered’ version is for them!” They also hope the distinctive sound of “Crushed” will attract new listeners.
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