Amanda Shires is closing 2020 with a dancing version of the 1983 Genesis hit, “That’s All”, released on Wednesday.
Describing the song as a “true Covid anthem”, Shires builds his version around a bass drum and a syncopated piano part taken from the original led by Phil Collins. Shires sings the verses at their lowest scale, then skips several steps to reach the highest chorus, giving the song a strange feeling when it folds in two octaves. When the beat arrives, it is a programmed groove of stuttering hi-hats and palms that provide a low thruster.
With lyrics like “You could say day and I would say night / Tell me it’s black, when I know it’s white”, “That’s it” also talks about the bitter dissension of 2020 and the feeling of being stuck, it doesn’t matter what are you doing. An animated lyrical video tries to capture the intensity of 2020, referencing Covid, killer wasps, Black Lives Matter, Tiger Kingand the deaths of Billy Joe Shaver, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Prine.
Shires has not announced any formal plans for the follow-up to his 2018 album At sunset, but she continued to work during the quarantine, especially with her streaming series I So Lounging. She also launched “The Problem”, a duet with her husband Jason Isbell, in defense of the right to abortion.