Back in May, following the premiere of “Stranger Things 4” and the explosion in interest around Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” I shared my five favorite covers of the song. As a long-time fan of the song, I had come to appreciate a number of covers almost as much as the original, most notably from Placebo and Meg Myers. But as Bush’s track took the world by storm, charting in both the U.K. and U.S. nearly 40 years after its release, a number of new covers began to surface. Here are some of my favorites:
Madilyn Bailey and Kurt Hugo Schneider
I’m actually a long-time fan of Kurt Hugo Schneider. The music producer has been putting his own unique spin on pop tracks on YouTube for over a decade and regularly collaborating with other YouTube artists. The first cover on my list is actually the latest to be released, dropped on Schneider’s YouTube channel on Sunday. The song is extremely stripped down to let the powerful vocals of artist Madilyn Bailey shine.
Loveless
Loveless’ cover of “Running Up That Hill” was one of the first covers to show up on my radar after the song started gaining popularity due to “Stranger Things.” The emo artist took TikTok by storm with a sampling of his take on the song’s chorus, and within a week or so, the full track was already playing on some of the rock stations on SiriusXM.
Halocene
Halocene is a band that’s been on my radar for a while, but somehow I missed it when they dropped their cover of “Running Up That Hill” earlier this month. This is admittedly one of the more moody covers of the track, with the female-fronted rock group trading synths for piano and bringing the song to a climax with heavy guitars. This is another instance where the vocals are the star, with singer Addie Nicole Amick really bringing the emotion and range on the track.
Jonathan Young & Caleb Hyles
Don’t let the fact it’s a metal cover scare you. The range shown by artists Jonathan Young and Caleb Hyles in this cover is incredible. Melodic vocals, strong harmonies, and Young’s gutteral chorus vocals would make Hawkins’ resident metal head Eddie Munson proud.
Punk Rock Factory
Pop punk bands wrote the soundtrack of my youth, and to this day, I’ll always have a soft spot for a punk rock cover, and this one checks all the boxes. As a bonus, the group has a pair of heavy-set dudes with beards, so I feel like we have a kinship.
Have you discovered any new covers of “Running Up That Hill” following its explosion in popularity due to “Stranger Things?” Let me know about them on social media! I love this song and will never grow tired of hearing new takes on it.
