Orville Peck’s debut album Pony earned the infamously masked singer a reputation as a lead voice in queer country music. To celebrate Pride, Peck teamed up with Spotify to share a cover as part of their Spotify Singles series. The singer chose to give a rendition of ’80s group Bronski Beat’s anthem “Smalltown Boy.”
Peck holds on to the integrity of Bronski Beat’s 1984 track with lush synths but adds his own style by infusing country twang. The song itself is an ode to growing up gay in a small town and feeling like you don’t belong. “Mother will never understand why you had to leave / But the answers you seek will never be found at home / The love that you need will never be found at home,” Peck sings.
In other Orville Peck news, the singer was supposed to release the EP Show Pony several weeks ago but has since shelved the project to instead focus on supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. “We’re undergoing a huge overdue worldwide transformation thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement and that is mainly what I want to put my focus on at the moment,” he wrote on Instagram. “The momentum is currently so strong, and it needs to keep going in order to dismantle the injustices of oppression, so if your voice hasn’t been heard yet just use it, or walk out and hear the protesters, and if you’re scared, tell them Orville sent you!”
Listen to Orville Peck cover Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy” above.