Harmony Woods stands out with her imaginative cover of Mitski’s “I Don’t Smoke”

Philadelphia singer-songwriter Harmony Woods swaps distorted guitars for acoustic notes, loud vocals for soft crooning and tailored production for a more raw sound on her cover of Mitski’s “I Don’t Smoke.”

Woods is relatively new to The Key’s radar, with her only other release on Bandcamp being a three-track demo released back in June. Cover songs can be difficult in general, especially when attempting to take on a powerful ballad released by folk-rock powerhouse Mitski. A lot of artists make the mistake of mimicking rather than reimagining the song that they choose to cover. This is what makes Woods stand out — she manages to step out of Mitski’s shadow of success by fashioning the song into a tender plea to a lover as opposed to the original put out by Mitski that wholly embodies her brand of compelling and cathartic indie rock.

If you want to get a better feel for Woods as a musician, here’s another chance — she is playing a free show at MilkBoy South Street on Saturday, November 12th. Click here for more information on the 21+ show and get acquainted with Woods by listening to her Mitski cover below.