‘There are many Bob Dylans but there's only one Lou Reed’: Emma Swift on her album of Lou Reed covers

THE STATE OF SOUND INTERVIEW

In 2020, Emma Swift’s album of Bob Dylan covers, Blonde on the Tracks, brought her widespread acclaim and a new audience. In the midst of making an album of Lou Reed covers, she talks to State of Sound about searching for the real Lou, and what it was like trying on his leather pants.

Interview: David Rea

Photo: Kate Lamendola

21 March 2026

WHEN EMMA SWIFT appears on my screen she's wearing a languid smile, framed by the floral wallpaper of her Nashville home. She looks as cosied up as one of her beloved cats, a little sun-dazed though it's early spring. The warmth of our conversation is kindled in small part by our mutual admiration for Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, but warmth is something that seems to radiate naturally from Emma Swift of its own accord. She is patient and meditative, taking time to select her words and the afternoon soon becomes a calm reflective pool in the rushing stream of the day.

In 2020 Swift recorded an album of Bob Dylan covers, sensitively reimagining eight of his songs in stately folk rock settings. Blonde on the Tracks made a global impact, drawing comparisons with Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball, praise from Greil Marcus and placing 17th in Rolling Stone’s The 80 Greatest Dylan Covers of All Time. With great care, Swift adjusted the light and Dylan’s songs refracted beautiful new colours. Last year, emerging from a debilitating breakdown, she released her first album of all-original material, The Resurrection Game. It was beautiful and devastating in equal measure, shining a soft light on a complex soul. Asked to describe the difference in making the two albums, Swift explained there was none. ‘I approach each song with the same level of intensity of feeling and desire to get it right. It doesn’t matter who wrote it, the goal is to get to the heart of it.’

That journey to the heart of songs has proved a little different on her second album of covers, out later this year or early next, drawn this time from Lou Reed's discography. ‘Bob Dylan contains multitudes,’ Swift explains, ‘there are many Bob Dylans throughout his career, but there's only one Lou Reed. His persona is remarkably consistent and cool.’

“Lou Reed’s voice belongs to the New York of chaotic and vibrant subcultures, his talk-sing style often carrying more attitude than melody. Swift’s is celestial; it soars and circles, wrought with emotion and gorgeously cracked here and there.”

How did she go about choosing the songs? ‘It really evolved over time,’ she says. ‘I tried some songs on for size and they didn't fit. Like when I sing my personal favourite Lou Reed song, ‘Coney Island Baby’, it sounds ridiculous. The line ‘I wanted to play football for the coach’ just sounds stupid coming out of my mouth. It just didn't work. But it was nice to try on his leather pants, you know?’ She looks at the ceiling and narrows her eyes, her mind turning inward. ‘I’ve had so much fun making this record,’ she smiles. ‘There are moments with a cinematic string section, but there are others that are more textured, layered, with kind of… weird things. There are odd instruments you wouldn't expect put through loop pedals to create an atmospheric sound.’

I tell her I can't imagine two more different vocalists. Lou Reed’s voice belongs to the New York of chaotic and vibrant subcultures, his talk-sing style often carrying more attitude than melody. Swift’s is celestial; it soars and circles, wrought with emotion and gorgeously cracked here and there. ‘Yeah, the Lou Reed universe is really different,’ she says. ‘It's been a real learning experience. Part of the reason I love singing other people's songs is I’m trying to learn how to write songs. It's like going to school.’

We talk about the 2022 Record Store Day release Lou Reed I'm So Free: The 1971 RCA Demos, where his trademark swagger dissolves, revealing something softer. ‘Yeah, he's a really interesting character,’ Emma says. ‘That album really tapped into this sadness.’ Swift first encountered that other side of Lou Reed as a teenager. When she heard ‘Caroline Says’, it stopped her in her tracks. ‘I was totally disarmed by how vulnerable it was, how absolutely devastating and so… gentle. Lou Reed has got this amazing rock 'n' roll persona but that song is like listening to a piece of shattered glass. It's really fragile.’

After our conversation, I reflect on the mysterious art of cover versions, on artists’ outer clothing and interior worlds. It doesn’t matter who wrote it, the goal is to get to the heart of it. Perhaps covering a song is actually like writing your own. Emma Swift might not be able to fit into Lou Reed's leather pants, but she has the talent to combine with the vulnerable soul who wore them.