Didn’t Know It Was A Cover | White Fence’s ‘So Beautiful’
Californian rocker Tim Presley revives a little-known Simply Red deep-cut, ‘So Beautiful’, for inclusion on his latest triumph, Orange.
Tim Presley returns with his first White Fence project in seven years: Orange (Drag City, 2026), his first since 2019’s I Have to Feed Larry’s Hawk, which signalled a period of creative fatigue where his relationship with music seemed to lose its spark and he spent much of his time focusing on painting.
Marking out a distinctive place in the lo-fi rock scene, Presley, who had once been a guitarist for The Fall, has built a reputation for restless creativity over a steady run of releases since 2010: some as White Fence, others collaborations with artists such as former partner and sometime Wilco producer Cate Le Bon as DRiNKS, and of course, sonic brother and labelmate Ty Segall, who plays drums and oversees production duties on this new one.
In these various guises, Tim’s music has always been at least well-crafted. Filtered through a warped, introspective lens, summoning the atmosphere of British psych-tinged 60s garage rock, it always felt as if he were constantly searching for clarity, always experimenting, without ever fully settling on something consistently brilliant.
Until now.
Orange is far and away our man’s strongest artistic statement yet and is one hell of a rewarding listen from start to finish.
Presley talked about falling out of love with music for a while, and you can hear that hangover in places across the 11 lovely melodic songs on the record. It’s looser, easier, and more exploratory than anything he has offered before. Sounds drift by with a newfound sense of space, from the daydream-like sprawl of ‘Reflections in a Shop Window on Polk’ to the glam leanings in ‘Your Eyes.’
In a recent press release, Presley said of the song, “It’s about love/loss, addiction/rehabilitation, and a good long look in the mirror (by way of a shop window reflection in San Francisco). But also the absurdity of life….. I wanted to sing my little heart out. Sing life.”
The record dips into jangly textures with ‘That’s Where the Money Goes,’ all bright chords and restless momentum, before pulling things back into something far more intimate with the fragile ‘Unread Books.’ There are traces of folk rock woven throughout, too, in particular ‘Evaporating Love,’ where the melody feels lived in and comfortable.
However, the song that ends up feeling like the clearest expression of the album’s unguarded charm is, somewhat incredibly, the one song here Presley didn’t write.
Sitting perfectly within the record’s hazy, introspective flow is a cover of Simply Red’s ‘So Beautiful,’ originally written and recorded for their 1995 album Life (and later included on their Greatest Hits set the following year).
Lyrically, it fits right into Orange’s headspace, that sense of distance, of something losing its spark.
You’re so beautiful, but oh so boring
I’m wondering if anyone out there really cares
About the colors in your hair
My little golden baby
Where have all your birds flown now?
The Mick Hucknall original has a kind of understated, almost unfinished quality to it, as if you’re hearing a demo that was never fully completed. The arrangement feels sparse and is built around a soft, soulful groove complete with questionable finger-snaps.
As unlikely as it seems, it’s an exceptional choice from White Fence, especially for an artist better known for warped psych textures than mid-’90s sophisti-pop deep cuts.
Further Listening:
♥ Buy Orange from Bandcamp
♥ White Fence on Drag City
♥ Album Review: Ty Segall & White Fence | “Joy” (2018)
#DragCity #TimPresley #TySegall #WhiteFence
