The Cure, New Order, Bruce Springsteen... reimagined.

Congratulations to Cameron Dezen Hammon on the release of Words Don’t Bleed. 

Cameron’s a gifted writer. I had the honor and privilege of workshopping some of her evocative prose in Seattle Pacific University’s MFA in Creative Writing program, under the direction of great writers like Paula Huston and Lauren Winner. Cameron’s essays were some of my favorites of that experience, including those about her personal history of life in Houston; about the lingering shadow of 9/11 that has marked her life directly; and about her deep empathy with those who live in borderlands and in-between places, zones that make them seem insignificant to some and threatening to others.

I didn’t find out until later that Cameron was as likely to captivate an audience with music as with writing.

What’s more: I never expected to find myself revisiting some of these ’80s pop hits. Nor did I imagine that these dude-centric songs would sound so strange and new if sung by a woman.

And these arrangements are surprising and inventive.

So if you’ve ever been a fan of George Michael (“Father Figure”),

Robert Palmer (she turns “Addicted to Love,” a goofball rock anthem, into something seriously creepy, like Sarah McLachlan’s “Possession”),

Don Henley (“Boys of Summer”),

New Order (“True Faith”),

Morrissey (“Suedehead”),

The Cure (“A Night Like This”),

Simple Minds (“Alive and Kicking”),

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (“All You Do is Talk”) (okay, they’re not all from the ’80s),

Hall & Oates (“Maneater”),

Bruce Springsteen (“I’m on Fire”),

or The Call (“I Don’t Wanna”) …

… check this out.

Pick it up at PledgeMusic.