York Calling favourite Estella Dawn in back on our pages, this time with a very special cover.

By Graeme Smith

In her version of Back To Black, Estella Dawn takes the Amy Winehouse classic and slows it down, stripping it back to give plenty of space to the vocals. Few could do Winehouse justice with their voice but she is one. Her vocals bring plenty of expression and emotion in a stirring first verse before things get hard rock for the chorus. As the track progresses, it builds to a passionate finish.

“I’ve always felt Amy’s music in my bones,” she shares. “Back to Black has this brutal honesty that just wrecks you, but it’s also so elegant and unapologetic. I didn’t want to just copy it. I wanted to sit in that emotion and let it hit in my voice the way it hits in my chest.”

“This song felt a little scary to cover, honestly,” she adds. “It’s sacred ground. But it also felt really important to me. Like… if I was going to do it, it had to be real, it had to be me.”

A pop artist and producer based in San Diego, USA, Estella Dawn is a firm favourite of ours over here in the UK. We’ve been covering her music since 2020 and rarely miss an opportunity to do so.

Estella Dawn’s take on Back to Black is out now and you can give it a listen below.